Source · Select Committees · Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Recommendation 24
24
Accepted
Paragraph: 114
While upcoming Government reforms to the regulation of waste carrier registration and the introduction of...
Recommendation
While upcoming Government reforms to the regulation of waste carrier registration and the introduction of digital waste tracking both have the potential to help combat the dumping of UK waste in foreign countries, the current level of compliance and enforcement activity by the Environment Agency does not appear to be up to the challenge posed by organised criminal gangs increasingly seeking to circumvent the current export regime. We recommend that the Environment Agency’s compliance and enforcement capacity is strengthened to enable more thorough checks of plastic waste exports. To fund this the Government should allow the Environment Agency to reinvest some of the charge income it collects from regulating the waste industry into enforcement capacity. This would be compatible with a recommendation made by the 2018 Independent Review into waste sector crime which called on government to review how the enforcement of waste crime is funded, potentially through broader fee incomes.
Government Response Summary
The EA intends to consult in 2023 on levying charges on shipments of green list waste, allowing them to recover regulation costs from exporters and strengthen compliance work, including checks on plastic waste exports, and the Waste Tracking System will increase their compliance capabilities.
Paragraph Reference:
114
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
Since 2014 the government has committed an additional £60 million through the EA for tackling waste crime, approximately £10 million per year. This money is now permanently baselined in the EA’s budget and has been invested into three key areas of waste crime: tackling illegal exports, illegal waste sites, and illegal dumping. The government is already planning to take action that aligns with the Committee’s recommendation. Currently, only notifiable waste shipments that require prior consent are subject to regulatory charges. Powers in the Environment Act 2021, however, allow the EA to introduce charging schemes to cover the costs associated with regulating shipments of ‘green list’ waste. In 2023, the EA intends to consult on levying charges on shipments of green list waste. This will allow them to recover the costs of regulation from exporters, providing a sustainable income stream with which to strengthen their compliance work, including checks on plastic waste exports. Further powers in the Environment Act 2021, meanwhile, allow the EA to recover costs of investigation, intervention, and enforcement at illegal or non-compliant waste sites, as well as allowing them to charge for the registration of waste operation exemptions. Finally, the introduction of the Waste Tracking System will enable the EA to increase their compliance capabilities as they expect to receive information about all shipments leaving England under green list waste controls.