CIWM chief executive Dr Colin Church said: “On the front line, regulators need to be able to act much more quickly. Allowing them to shut down illegal sites and stop rogue operators in their tracks will help to tackle or avoid major polluting incidents […] that blight communities and cost the public purse millions of pounds.”
“In the longer term, we need to weed out the cowboys and those who are using loopholes in the current regulatory regime, and raising the bar on competency and reviewing the exemptions system are good places to start.”
‘Little cost’
Dr Church said one weakness of the current framework is a lack of focus on waste carriers, brokers and dealers, who can register for very little cost, with no requirement to demonstrate technical competence.
He also welcomed the focus on householder Duty of Care. “Local authorities deal with nearly a million fly-tipping incidents a year and around two-thirds of these involve household waste,” he said.
“We need to choke off the supply of waste to illegal operators by improving awareness and ensuring that those who deliberately flout their responsibilities are penalised.”
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