A new report published on 22 July 2021 outlines the scale of illegal waste activity in England. The report “An independent Study into Fly-tipping and Unregistered Waste Carriers in England” was carried out by Air & Space Evidence and EPR, and commissioned by Material Focus, the not-for-profit behind the Recycle Your Electricals campaign. I was one of a number of reviewers taken from academia, the waste industry and former Government and regulatory officials.
The research estimated that nearly two-thirds (63%) of businesses, 238,741 individuals or organisations in England, that are offering to handle waste that appear to be unregistered when advertising their services – and thereby handling waste illegally. The research examined who was advertising waste collection services online in ten UK areas and compared over 4,700 business names to entries in the carrier, broker and dealer (CBD) registration system which determines who can legally move waste. Evasion rates for comparative sectors, including some that require similar forms of formal registration, usually fall between the 1 and 8% range, such as TV licences, car tax evasion, and gas safety.
The report estimates that 1.82 million tonnes of waste was fly-tipped on public land, or taken to illegal waste sites. These incidents are estimated to cost the UK £176 million each year in lost landfill tax.
The report notes that fly-tipping can be a serious blight on local environments: a source of pollution; a potential danger to public health; a hazard to wildlife; and a nuisance and is considered to cost the UK economy £1 billion a year. In 2019/20 fly-tipping incidents and illegal waste sites recorded by the Environment Agency together contributed to over 87,000 tonnes of waste electricals being handled illegally.
Records show that there were nearly 1 million recorded instances of fly-tipping on public land in England in 2019/20 The Environment Agency (EA) also dealt with nearly 1,000 organised illegal waste sites on top of this.
Although the report underlines serious concerns about the situation in England, it ought to prompt re-examination of the issue of compliance and enforcement of waste laws across the United Kingdom.
Ray Purdy, Director, Air & Space Evidence, said –
“In light of the colossal levels of fly-tipping and illegal waste dumping that are being
experienced in the UK a detailed investigation as to where all of this waste might be coming from and who was moving it was long overdue. The research shines a light on how waste criminality is happening, providing evidence that there are extremely high numbers of people and businesses moving waste which appear to be operating illegally under the radar. We also show which media and advertising platforms they are using, and that much of this activity might involve nationwide networks. It is hoped that this new evidence will enable Government and regulatory bodies to respond and make current systems better.
In my recent post ‘Southern Water’s £90 million fine for unpermitted sewage discharges – “deliberate disregard for the law from the top down”, I commented that -
“It is also surely no coincidence that the UK government has cut Environment Agency funding for enforcement by half, from £157.3 million in 2010 to £75.6 million today. In January 2021 The Times reported that the Chair of the Environment Agency Emma Howard Boyd had written to the Secretary of State for Environment Food and Rural Affairs George Eustice in August 2020 to point out that –
“All this is allowing more people and businesses to break the environmental rules” … “serious waste criminals are taking advantage: the Environment Agency is now finding illegal waste sites as fast it can close down existing ones”.”
I also suggested that –
“The Environment Bill itself is … the obvious place to ensure that overall enforcement of environmental laws is strengthened not weakened, that the Office for Environmental Protection is adequately independent not just appointed, funded and directed by the Secretary of State, that environmental principles are clearly enacted in law and not hollowed out and subject to unjustifiable exceptions, that environmental standards are clear and objective not subject to Ministerial reinterpretation or discarding.“