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Agency intercepts 200,000 tonnes of ‘illegitimate’ waste in 2020

The Environment Agency says it intercepted approximately 200,000 tonnes of “illegitimate” waste in 2020, with an estimated packaging recycling note (PRN) value of £30 million.

It also beat its own compliance monitoring goals for the 2020 calendar year, having targeted monitoring 203 people. In the end it monitored 221.

The Environment Agency intercepted approximately 200,000 tonnes of “illegitimate” waste in 2020

However, the Agency only completed audit visits to 38 producers, despite targeting visiting 83.

In a compliance monitoring and enforcement activity report published yesterday (11 May), the Agency said: “Using an intelligence-led and risk-based approach, we carried out compliance monitoring of accredited reprocessors and exporters, packaging producers and compliance schemes. We completed site inspections through pre-arranged or unannounced visits, or remote auditing processes that were put in place this year in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

“Where we identified non-compliance, we followed our enforcement and sanctions policy and associated guidelines to determine the appropriate enforcement action. Over the year our various interventions have resulted in disrupting approximately 200,000 tonnes of waste, with an estimated PRN value of £30 million, of what we regard illegitimate or fraudulent evidence.”

During 2020, the Agency suspended eight accredited operators, cancelled five accreditations, refused 17 accreditation applications, and caused 13 companies to withdraw their accreditation applications.

It accepted a total of 44 enforcement undertakings from packaging producers, resulting in £593,081 in financial contributions to environmental projects.

Packaging recovery rate

Provisional Environment Agency figures indicate that the UK packaging recovery rate in 2020 was 73.9%, of which 68.33% was reported as being recycled.

Environment Agency figures indicate that the UK packaging recovery rate in 2020 was 73.9%

The final 2020 UK total recovery obligation was 8,235,955 tonnes, an increase of 35,921 tonnes on the 2019 final UK obligation. All 22 UK schemes met their 2020 obligations.

Carry-over PRNs increased from 441,403 tonnes into the 2020 obligation year to 585,361 tonnes into 2021.

The Agency says the year ended with the highest ever number of accredited plastics reprocessors at 112 and accredited plastic and paper exporters at 160 and 78 respectively.

Covid-19

The Environment Agency says the Covid-19 pandemic caused officer capacity issues throughout 2020 and meant it had to “refocus its efforts” on areas of compliance monitoring other than visiting registered producers. This meant it carried out 55 fewer audits then it targeted for 2020.

Though the Agency remained operational throughout 2020, most of its staff worked from home, the regulator says. Frontline staff on the ground tackled “priority issues” such as flood risk and pollution.

Officers used video conferencing software to ensure remote audits reflected face-to-face audits “as closely as possible”.

PRNs

PRNs are issued by reprocessors per tonne of packaging waste recycled and can have a high value.

The Environment Agency wrote to the packaging sector on 23 April to warn that from July 2021 in situations when PRNs are found to be ‘incorrect’ it will be able to cancel them (see letsrecycle.com story).

Compliance schemes broadly welcomed the sentiment but advised the Agency to be aware of who could suffer, to avoid punishing the “victim” (see letsrecycle.com story).

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