A complete ban on exporting waste from the UK should be brought in to combat crime, Environment Agency chief executive Sir James Bevan is urging. Sir James warns current rules which allow certain kinds of waste to be sent abroad for processing could be providing cover for “illegal and damaging waste trafficking” and a ban would make it harder to make illegal shipments.
In a speech to the Environmental Services Association on Tuesday, the head of the EA is also calling for regulators to have more weapons to tip the scales on waste crime, including much bigger fines and more and longer prison sentences.
Six years on from describing waste crime as “the new narcotics”, Sir James warns the problem has considerably worsened since then. “All the evidence suggests waste crime is on the rise,” he will tell the event.
