Illegal waste crime in Hertfordshire’s Broxbourne borough has been the target of a crackdown this week.
Crime officers from the Environment Agency supported a day of vehicle checks with Hertfordshire Police (Eastern Region Special Operations Unit) and the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency in a bid to reduce and disrupt waste crime.
During the day of action, Environment Agency officers carried out waste-carrier checks on a total of seven vehicles. A couple of the vehicles were seized by the police for having no road tax. Another vehicle that did not have a valid waste carrier licence and was illegally carrying scrap metal waste was taken off the road by the DVSA.
Mark Nevitt, National Enforcement Service Team Leader, from the Environment Agency in Hertfordshire said:
Working with partners such as the police helps us run roadside operations, and the ability to share intelligence around non-compliant waste carriers. The Environment Agency wants to make sure businesses carrying waste have the proper authorisations to allow them to transport and transfer rubbish – a waste carrier’s registration from the Environment Agency and waste transfer note from the waste producer.
We also want to make it very clear to the general public that everyone has a duty of care to ensure their waste is managed and disposed of correctly by the people they give it to. If you use illegal waste carriers to take your rubbish you risk being fined up to £5,000.
Broxbourne Chief Inspector Craig Flint for Hertfordshire Police said:
Working with our partner agencies, such as the Environment Agency, continues to prove essential to our work. We share the same goal of keeping Broxbourne – and the wider county – a safe place to be.
Not only does illegal waste, which can end up dumped indiscriminately, cause a blight on our countryside, there can also be associated criminality, including traffic offences, as well as the detrimental effect on public health. Additionally, the removal and proper disposal of such waste is at the taxpayers’ expense.
It’s therefore right and proper that we work to crack down on such practices that cause harm to our communities. Operations like these provide a brilliant opportunity to remind carriers about their responsibilities, enhance our intelligence around such practices and take action against those who flout the rules.
I’d remind members of the public about their own responsibility when disposing of waste as the implications for them can also be serious.
Prem Kumar, DVSA Vehicle Enforcement Manager said:
DVSA’s priority is to protect everyone from unsafe drivers and vehicles. Working closely with the Environment Agency and the police in this way is an efficient way to stop dangerous operators.
We’ll continue to use intelligence, technology and expert skills to stop illegal operators and keep the roads safer.
People who manage waste illegally cost the taxpayer millions of pounds every year in clean-up costs, and make considerable sums of undeclared income. They also undercut legitimate business, and pose a direct threat to sustainable growth in the waste management sector. Environment Agency enforcement days helps ensure that the Right Waste goes to the Right Place to stop unpermitted businesses undermining legitimate companies and help create a level playing field for all.
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