The funding, which was announced in the Chancellor’s spring Budget yesterday (March 18), will see the Treasury allocate a “one off £4.2 million increase in Environment Agency funding to address waste crime”.
It follows recent concerns that the Agency’s funding on waste crime would run out – it has about £5 million to spend over two years but has found tackling crime more costly than it expected.
ESA
Commenting on the announcement, Sam Corp, head of regulation at the Environmental Services Association, said it was ‘vital’ regulators used the additional funding to crack down on crime in local communities.
He said: “ESA applauds the government’s announcement in the budget to provide an additional £4.2 million to fight waste crime. The government has already shown it is committed to tacking this issue with the £5 million additional funding previously announced, and with the recent launch of its consultation on a package of measures to tackle waste crime and poor performance.
“However, tackling waste crime requires ongoing resourcing and whilst the additional funding is very helpful we would also welcome a long term commitment to fund this important work.”
CIWM
Steve Lee, chief executive of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM), reiterated this message and strongly welcomed the Chancellor’s announcement on a “serious issue”.
Ian Wakelin, chief executive of Biffa, welcomed the Agency funding but would have liked to seen more encouragement for food waste use in energy recovery, while waste management firm Viridor argued the Budget was a “missed opportunity” to support the next wave of waste infrastructure growth.
Viridor
Dan Cooke, external affairs director at Viridor, said: “Britain urgently needs to resource the fight against rising waste crime which threatens the sector’s development and our economic and environmental interests. Today’s announcement of a one-off increase in Environment Agency funding to crack down on waste criminals is therefore welcome indeed. But waste crime isn’t a one-off quick win and needs sustained support and resourcing.
“With the sector at a point of inflexion, the budget was a missed opportunity to support the next wave of infrastructure investment needed to create 50,000 new jobs, deliver resources for UK manufacturing, enhance UK resource and energy security and skill a new generation of engineers and scientists.”
Biffa
It was a concern shared by Biffa Waste Services, which would have welcomed more investment into anaerobic digestion for food waste treatment.
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Ian Wakelin, Biffa’s chief executive, said: “Investment into more renewable energy sources such as food waste, which can be converted into energy through AD would have been a welcome addition considering the UK produces 14.8 million tonnes of food waste per year. Our Poplars AD plant has the capacity to deal with 120,000 tonnes per annum of food waste but as a nation we are seriously lagging behind our EU counterparts when it comes to maximising this opportunity.”
However, Mr Wakelin added that it was a “welcome surprise” to see the waste crime funding included in the package, and also commended the expected increase in landfill tax rates which will “ensure the UK remains focused on its strict 2020 targets”.
LOI
The Chancellor also reiterated confirmation of a compulsory loss on ignition testing (LOI) for landfill operators in the Budget, a regime that will come into effect from April 1 2015.
ESA’s Sam Corp added: “We hope that the Chancellor’s announcement will give operators the assurance they need to put in place the necessary measures to implement the regime from 01 April.”
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