Panorama
 
 
 
 

PARTNERSHIP DISHES THE DIRT ON WASTE CRIMINALS


Environmental Panorama
London – United Kingdom
May of 2006

22-May-2006 - Businesses in Liverpool and Widnes are being asked if they have a DIRTY SECRET as part of a hard-hitting campaign to stamp out waste crime in the region.

The Environment Agency, local authorities, along with local police forces are behind the zero-tolerance campaign "Make Waste Your Business".

New figures show that, somewhere in England, rubbish is illegally dumped every 35 seconds and costs local authorities and the Environment Agency around £100 a minute to clear.

The campaign focuses mainly on areas of Liverpool and Widnes along the Mersey estuary, which is made up of heavy urban, commercial and industrial land including parts of extreme areas of deprivation that are undergoing extensive regeneration.

A high number of dumping black spots occupy these area including Sandhills/ Brunswick Place, land around Cains Brewery and Garston Industrial Estate.

More than £70,000 funded through Defra’s Business Resource Efficiency and Waste (BREW) project will be used over the next 18 months to crack down on large-scale fly-tipping, illegal waste sites and unregistered waste carriers in the area.

To raise awareness of the problem and prompt positive action to stop dumping in the area, a billboard campaign asking businesses if they have a DIRTY SECRET has been launched at Moorfields and Central train stations.

Buses sporting adverts that condemn businesses that commit waste crime as SCUM, VERMIN and TRASH are also touring the area, as part of the hard-hitting campaign to stamp out waste crime.

Other tactics being used include sending a mock poison pen letter to mechanics, builders and retailers, occupations that are deemed to be the top three worst waste crime offenders. The letter calls on those who are not disposing of waste legally or know of businesses that are not to contact the Environment Agency and make waste their business.

Free dirty calendars will also be sent out. Fronted by a scantly clad professional model, the calendar features 12 of the dirtiest sites in the North West – the worst business waste crime prosecutions brought by the Environment Agency during 2004-05.

Tony Dean, Regional Director of Environment Agency North West, said: "’Make waste your business – before we make it ours’ is the theme of the campaign and we want to work with businesses to help them understand the various waste disposal options. Advice is available to help them minimise the amount of waste they produce, which has cost benefits for them and we want to make sure they understand their legal duty to dispose of waste responsibly.

"The campaign tackles fly-tipping all the way down the waste chain – from businesses that flout the law and turn a blind eye to where their rubbish goes, to the unscrupulous tippers who charge for rubbish removal and then profit from dumping it illegally."

Businesses can be fined up to £50,000 and could face imprisonment for disposing of their waste illegally. Sophisticated techniques such as surveillance cameras, roadblocks, covert operations, automatic number plate recognition and forensic science are being used to catch these criminals.

Anyone commissioning someone to dispose of their waste including household waste could also face hefty fines of up to £5,000 if the person is not registered to dispose of waste. People can now check that their waste carriers are legally registered by log on to: www.environment-agency.gov.uk/publicregister

To report a pollution incident call 0800 80 70 60.

Ends

Notes to editors:

In 2006/07 Defra’s BREW programme will award £90 million. For further information see www.defra.gov.uk/enviornment/waste/brew
BREW is Defra’s Business Resource Efficiency and Waste programme. It provides extra support for businesses on resource efficiency and should deliver substantial financial savings for businesses, as well as significant environmental benefits. The Environment Agency is one of the organisations that will deliver this programme, receiving funding to help tackle waste crime issues.
The Government will raise the rate of Landfill Tax for active waste by at least £3 per tonne every year until it reaches £35 per tonne. The Government has committed to making these increases revenue-neutral to businesses and local authorities.

 
 

Source: Environment Agency – United Kingdom (http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk)
Press consultantship (Alix Bell)
All rights reserved

 
 
 
 

 

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