£1 Billion in costs, 500 to 700 illegal sites shut down annually, and everyone is paying for it except the criminals. This is the overwhelming feeling in the waste and resource sector and it's frustrating.
Decades back waste management was mostly about collecting and dumping waste. The sector has advanced significantly since then, extracting more value from materials and innovating ways to achieve this. Yet the public perception largely remains that waste is just waste, not a resource.
Criminals, on the other hand, know better – waste is easy money. No processing, no sorting, no compliance to worry about. Just get paid to collect it, then dump it wherever. With weak enforcement and low prosecution rates, it's so easy to get away with.
Meanwhile, legitimate contractors have to navigate changing legislation, public apathy, and commercial pushback to simplifying recycling and waste management processes. Disposing of waste safely, costs, and really that's the crux of the matter. What's being invested in fighting waste crime pales in comparison to the real cost to the industry and the public.
Regulation is largely the function of the Environmental Agency. However, enforcement and criminal prosecution fall to the courts and law enforcement agencies. Similarly, landfill tax fraud siphons revenue out the system and comes under the jurisdiction of HMRC. In every one of these institutions there are cracks and waste crime is simply slipping through. Combine that with limited manpower and the need to find evidence sufficient to make a strong case against perpetrators, and you can see why.
The bigger problem is that while the Environmental Agency is not without mechanisms to handle waste crime, they're structured for governable businesses, not organised crime syndicates. The EA's variable and fixed monetary penalties, stop notices, restoration notices and enforcement undertakings can be effective when companies admit guilt, or when there's sufficient evidence to point to a specific entity.
What happens when the permit is registered to a shell company at a false address, or the driver doesn't exist in any legal records? You can't prosecute ghosts. However, it's no excuse to delay investigations or prosecutions. Often the EA has had tools at its disposal, yet it's dragged its feet, not acting early enough to secure evidence, or prevent further criminal activity.
The resource sector has sought to distance itself from unscrupulous operators, citing that there's a distinct difference between non-compliance of operators due to errors and intentional law breaking by criminal syndicates. It seems the institutions are finally starting to listen, recognising that most major fly-tipping incidents are a result of deliberate criminality and need to be treated as such.
It's a start, but it doesn't necessarily solve the problem. Expecting existing law enforcement to stretch their capabilities further when crimes are intentionally woven into a web of deceit, isn't realistic. Landfill tax fraud is another complex area of criminality outside of the jurisdiction of the EA. Yet it requires understanding the permitting and compliance regulations as well as how taxes are generated. Criminals know the loopholes and use this to their advantage.
Meanwhile it's the resource sector that is required to take on removal of illegal waste and remediation of areas. Largely because they're the only ones who know how to. Perhaps they also have valuable insights on how to close some of the gaps that criminals are exploiting.
There is some progress – digital waste tracking, for one. The requirement to display permits on vehicles, another. Making the permit application process more specific to eliminate ghost operators and validate legitimate ones. It's a start and the key to expanding this will be industry engagement.
Ten years ago, it was deemed practically impossible to recycle flexible film and black plastics. Now there are multiple ways to do both and recover materials and value in the process. In the same way as this innovation has happened, the expertise that could contribute to making waste crime harder, exists. Both within the sector and further afield in agencies, regulators, and enforcement agencies as well as other commercial sectors.
Those working in waste understand what leads to efficiency and productivity. They also know what hinders it, and what doesn't work. They're dealing with the paperwork and navigating the complexities on a daily basis. They also see what waste criminals are getting away with. Their voice is valuable in informing potential ways to close the gaps that criminals exploit.
When the easy money stops flowing, when it becomes harder to circumnavigate the system, and when there's a real deterrent for committing the crimes, the damage can start to be mitigated. The waste sector can make the case for what to invest in, due to knowledge of what works. Operating as a collective voice there's also potential to hold regulators accountable and ensure that the infrastructure and capacity exist, in order to fight waste crime.
Four years ago, the waste sector in the UK was worth £25 billion. Estimates place annual growth at £4 billion per year. That places the sector on track for a valuation of just over £40 billion by the end of the year. It's worth fighting the crime that's eroding the trust and capability of legitimate operators. Will the waste sector raise its voice a little louder?