Record number of illegal waste sites shut down

Waste Crime Report 2013 shows Environment Agency shuts down 25 illegal waste sites every week. The number of illegal waste sites being shut down has dramatically increased in the last year, a new report from the Environment Agency has revealed.
Environment Agency cracks down on illegal waste sites
The Environment Agency reported that it stopped 1,279 illegal waste sites last year – the equivalent of 25 sites every week – in its second annual waste crime report, published today. The number of sites stopped increased by 70 per cent on 2011/12 figures, attributed to the Environment Agency’s crackdown on illegal sites, which saw an Illegal Waste Sites Taskforce set up for two years.

Legitimate waste businesses report that they are being undercut by these illegal sites, which can offer waste collection, treatment and disposal at cheaper prices than their competitors, but which have no intention of disposing of this waste safely. It is estimated that waste crime diverts as much as £1bn every year from legitimate businesses and HM Treasury.
Some of the major crimes stopped this year include illegal exports, serious dumping incidents and illegal waste sites where waste is burnt or and buried with no environmental safeguards in place. Illegal waste sites can cause misery for local communities with infestations of flies, acrid smoke and ugly piles of waste affecting homes and quality of life. They can also lead to serious pollution incidents.
CRS’s Head of Environment commented ‘ These figures demonstrate the real risk of legitimate organisations using of illegal waste carriers, or have their waste take to an illegal site.  It is vital that organisations verify where their waste goes, in order to meet the waste duty of care requirements. ‘
Stronger partnerships
Ed Mitchell, Director of Environment and Business at the Environment Agency, said: “Waste crime puts people and the environment at risk, and undermines the legitimate waste industry. We are taking tough action to deal with this problem, through the improved use of intelligence and stronger partnerships with the police and other enforcement bodies. The two year Illegal Waste Sites Taskforce has been hugely successful in slashing the number of illegal waste sites operating in England.”
The report also shows that most illegal waste sites are now shut down within 12 months.
But there is still more to be done – and the report also reveals that:

• The majority of illegal waste sites are still clustered around towns, cities and key motorway links.
• Construction and demolition waste continues to be a problem – with construction waste present at over 25 per cent of illegal waste sites and 23 per cent of large scale illegal waste dumping incidents.
• Scrap cars are found at a quarter of all illegal waste sites, and there were a significant number of serious waste dumps involving chemical drums, oil or fuel. 
• The courts confiscated over £1.3 million last year from waste criminals under the Proceeds of Crime Act.

Case Studies of recent Environment Agency waste crime prosecutions
A Hebden Bridge man who was wanted for waste crimes in Todmorden began a 25 month jail term for running an illegal waste operation. Mark Eric Butterworth (51) of Mytholmroyd, Hebden Bridge, had been depositing and storing skip loads of waste at two unpermitted sites in West Yorkshire, where there was no infrastructure in place to protect the environment. He had been previously convicted in May 2010 of operating a waste transfer station on the same land during 2007 without a permit, a crime for which he received a suspended prison sentence.
John Roberts (69) who illegally dumped up to 14,000 tyres on his farm in Ludlow, Shropshire, was fined £20,000 and ordered to pay £7,284 in costs in August this year.  The judge also ordered Mr Roberts to remove the tyres within three months. By not holding an environmental permit, Mr Roberts was undercutting  legal tyre operators and avoided the legitimate costs of disposal. Illegally dumped stockpiles of tyres can present a serious fire risk to communities and the environment. Burning tyres can cause significant pollution, releasing toxic smoke and chemicals into the environment.