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Essex man arrested for organised waste crime

Defra revealed on Tuesday (6 August) that a man in Essex has been arrested in connection with organised waste crime.  

A large waste dump on rural land in Essex
A large waste dump on rural land in Essex

The man was arrested on 1 August in Harlow as part of an Environment Agency (EA) investigation – named “Operation Eagle”. 

A second man was interviewed on 8 August about the same large-scale fly-tipping that occurred across Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire and Essex. 

The EA thanked Hertfordshire Police for their help and said that they were “integral” to the arrest and custody of the suspect.  

It asks that anyone with information that may assist with the investigation calls its 24-hour hotline on 0800 807060. Or report anonymously via Crimestoppers online or at 0800 555111 referencing ‘Op Eagle’. 

Waste crime in the UK 

In July, a man was fined £2,500 for failing to comply with a court order to clear waste from an illegal site in Teesside. 

Martin Robert Hindmarsh appeared at Teesside Magistrates’ Court on 9 July 2024, where he admitted he was in contempt of court by “failing to comply” with a court order to clear waste from an illegal site at Tame Road in Middlesbrough. 

The EA has also warned that it has seen a “dramatic rise” in fraud in the waste export industry over the last three years – particularly in the “scale and complexity” of crime schemes.   

Total waste crime costs the UK economy an estimated £1 billion a year.   

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