Overall, the Agency says, there were 22 fewer active illegal waste sites than in the previous quarter, but the environmental regulator urged caution in interpreting the data.
The Agency published a corporate scorecard for the third quarter of 2020/21 yesterday (7 April), showing the number of active high risk illegal waste sites fell from 208 in the preceding three months to 201.
The target for the quarter was to reduce the number of sites to 205, while the target for the year is 200.
Commenting on the figures, however, the Agency said: “We should continue to be cautious in how these numbers are interpreted.
“The picture on the ground may be considerably worse than these figures suggest and it is likely the true figure is greater as we emerge from the pandemic.”
According to the Agency, tackling illegal waste remains a “corporate priority” during the pandemic.
The Agency keeps a database of known illegal waste sites, of which it has become aware through investigations, reports, or other means.
Scorecard
The corporate scorecard is reported every three months to executive directors and the board within the Environment Agency. The figures shown use initial quarterly data which is subject to change.
The Agency uses a traffic light system to show how it is performing. Green means it is performing at or above the targets set, amber means is falling slightly short, and red means there are improvements to be made.
For the third quarter of 2020/21, the Agency awarded itself a green for reducing the number of high-risk illegal waste sites.
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