Recommendation 6

We are concerned that the Agency is not doing enough to prevent the illegal export of waste. The Agency estimates that around 14 million tonnes of waste are legitimately exported each year. In the five years to 2020–21, the Agency inspected 1,100 shipping containers per year on average, preventing around 18,000 tonnes of waste from illegal export and saving the economy £1.3 million annually. The Agency believes that most illegally exported waste goes to non-OECD countries where controls on the harms this waste may cause are weaker. The Agency accepts that, despite its efforts, it does not know the total amount of waste that is illegally exported. However, the Environmental Services Association estimates that around 400,000 tonnes of waste are exported illegally each year, costing the economy £42 million. The Agency can do more here – it told us about a record £1.5 million fine it achieved for waste export offences committed by a waste disposal company last year, which was the company’s second offence within two years. In this instance, investigators were able to prevent 16 25-tonne containers from being exported, but another 26 containers had already left port for India or Indonesia. Recommendation: The Agency should write to us within six weeks setting out what actions would be required to enable it to understand the true scale of illegal waste exports and what further action it might take to prevent them.