The demand for better funding came last night in London at a hearing of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee evidence session for the Waste Policy and Landfill Directive.
Roger Hewitt, honorary treasurer of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) claimed that Defra needs better resources if it is to offer a helping hand in its role in the implementation of new waste legislation.
He said: “Defra is short of resources and has been since it was established in 1996. The Department of Environment –DoE- shrank into Defra.”
He also claimed that the funding Defra received now was far less than the equivalent organisation received 25 years ago and he said that things seemed to move much quicker back then.
Fly-tipping
Also at the session the CIWM said that it had not seen a high increase in fly-tipping since the complete ban on disposing hazardous and non-hazardous waste together in landfill had started on July 16 2004.
The organisation said that it believed companies were still sending untreated waste to landfill with treated waste rather than fly tipping the hazardous waste to avoid the cost of treatment.
Mr Hewitt also claimed that the EA could benefit from additional funding if it is expected to police companies who defy legislation such as the Landfill Directive. He highlighted his concerns over hazardous work being sent to non-hazardous landfills.
He said: “The EA needs more policemen if it is to ensure people are not sending untreated waste to landfill.
“The Landfill Tax could be used by being given to the agency to help them monitoring waste. If the agency had more funds it could be mores successful more quickly,” he said.
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