The Department was responding specifically to concerns raised by the Confederation of Paper Industries earlier this week that it was showing “little resolve” to hunt out possible wrongdoers in the packaging recovery sector.
” If any evidence of fraud is found, it will be referred to the police.“
– Defra spokesman
The CPI said new data from Defra on the levels of packaging waste being exported did not match data on such exports held by HM Revenue and Customs.
The amount of UK packaging waste exported for recovery has rocketed in the last five years from 425,165 tonnes in 2001 to 1.8 million tonnes in 2005. The increase has been fuelled by the funding on offer from packaging producers through the PRN producer responsibility system.
This increase in packaging waste exports has been led by the paper sector, with 179,439 of cardboard exported in 2001 growing to 1,146,000 tonnes in 2005.
The CPI claims that as much as 200,000 tonnes of material claimed to have been exported in 2005 may not have actually taken place (see letsrecycle.com story).
Defra
In response, a spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs told letsrecycle.com: “We can assure you that Defra takes any allegations of fraud very seriously. We can't comment on the findings of the investigation yet, because the auditors running it have not presented their report. If any evidence of fraud is found, it will be referred to the police.”
The Defra spokesman said the Department's “fact-finding” investigation of the paper packaging recovery sector, started last summer, was likely to report back “in the middle of June”.
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He said: “This is the third fact-finding mission carried out by Defra, the first two in the wood and plastics recycling sectors. Industry will be aware that any investigation of this nature requires time to plan and carry out.
“We are in discussions with HM Revenue regarding the discrepancies in data,” the Defra spokesman added.
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