Minister Warned that Cuts to Waste Crime Budgets Would be a Grave Mistake

Government budget cuts to efforts to tackle waste crime in the UK would lead to serious environmental consequences, according to a letter sent to the parliamentary under secretary of state, Lord de Mauley by a group of trade associations representing the UK waste & recycling industry. The letter, signed by the Environmental Services Association, the Resource Association, the Renewable Energy Association and The Chartered Institute of Wastes Management, can be read below. 24 June 2013 Dear Minister, Funding for tackling waste crime As you know, our four organisations have been working together to articulate a unified voice for the waste and resource management sector, and we are writing to express our strong view that the public funding to tackle waste crime must not be a casualty of the imminent Spending Review. As you are well aware, our sector is at the heart of the government’s green growth agenda, turning waste into economic resources and growing at 3% - 4% a year. We recognise that public spending must fall, and that all the ‘non-protected’ areas of spending, including those that affect environmental issues, are likely to be affected (though we note in passing that Defra did receive some of the sharpest departmental budget cuts in the last Spending Review). However, we are convinced that one area which must not suffer spending reductions are the resources allocated to Defra, the Environment Agency and local government to tackle the problem of waste crime. The damage inflicted by waste crime is huge – from the flytipping which blights local neighbourhoods, to the organised crime which subverts environmental regulations for illegal profit through activities such as exporting hazardous waste abroad. Waste crime harms the environment, defrauds the Revenue and undermines the economics of the legitimate resource management industry. We are working closely with the Environment Agency, Defra and local government to tackle waste crime, but the challenge remains enormous. The Agency is currently identifying new illegal waste sites more rapidly than it can prosecute and close down existing ones. In such a situation, it would be a great mistake to cut spending in this area and we would urge you to ensure that overall decisions taken by Defra do not have this effect. Yours sincerely Read More Industry Backs Government Plans to Boost UK E-Waste Recycling A Joint Trade Association has issued a response stating its inclination to favour options three and four of the UK government's WEEE consultation as they would ensure that 100% of WEEE deposited at local authority sites will be collected and treated. Online Waste Transfer Notes Welcomed by Industry The incoming electronic duty of care system for recording transfers of waste online has won the support of nearly 75% of large waste companies. Scottish Council Loses Appeal Against Waste to Energy Pyrolysis Plant An appeal against a controversial waste to energy facility which would use pyrolysis technology in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, has failed and the project will now go ahead.