| 06/12/2005
- The Environment Agency today (Monday) urged all local
authorities to check that their recyclable waste is exported
legally.
The call comes as the Environment
Agency today confirmed that they are investigating 11
cases involving the alleged illegal export of waste.
Barbara Young, Chief Executive of
the Environment Agency said: "Many of us do our bit
for the environment by recycling as much of our rubbish
as we can. Its absolutely essential that we can be sure
that when we put our glass and paper into the recycling
box that it does end up being properly recycled.
"There is a legitimate and growing
market abroad for recyclables, but there are rules to
ensure that it’s done properly. We will continue to work
with Government and industry to raise awareness of the
rules and ensure that workable standards are in place,
but local authorities and waste managers need to check
that waste collected for recycling is dealt with properly."
Under the rules, it’s illegal to export
waste for disposal but it can sent abroad for recycling.
The maximum penalty for exporting waste illegally is an
unlimited fine or up to 2 years in prison.
The Environment Agency is tackling
illegal waste exports by:
targeted enforcement at UK ports including
the detention and inspection of more than 350 vehicles
and containers
working closely with enforcers around
the world including in Indonesia and Hong Kong to share
intelligence
informing industry and local authorities
on the rules, what they need to do to meet them and what
we’ll do if they don’t
auditing the standards at recycling
facilities in England and Wales to check where their recyclables
are going for export that they are dealt with properly
Barbara Young continued "We
don’t want to stop legitimate recycling but we will come
down hard on anyone we catch breaking the rules."
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