The Agency has published a report outlining its regulatory activity in 2018 showing that 92% of its 13,771 regulated sites demonstrated ‘good compliance’ with environmental permit conditions.
But, the annual Regulating for People, Environment and Growth (RPEG) document claims performance in the waste sector – one of the largest sectors regulated by the Agency – fell behind.
In 2018, 3.6% of permits for the waste sector were rated D, E or F – meaning they are poorly managed – compared with 1.7% averaged across non-waste sectors.
There were 127 ‘persistently poorly managed’ waste sites – those which were poorly managed for two or more consecutive years – making up 90% of the total. Despite this, the number of persistently poorly managed landfill sites improved, dropping from 37 in 2017 to 30 in 2018.
The Agency said: “Permit compliance in the waste sector still needs significant improvement”.
The waste sector was also responsible for a high number – 79 – of ‘serious pollution incidents’, 22% more than in 2017. These are those which seriously harm the environment.
There were 16 incidents at landfill sites, more than double the number in 2017.
“Two individual sites were responsible for half of the landfill incidents, with one site causing five odour incidents”, the Agency said.
Illegal
The report, issued near the end of October, also shone a light on illegal waste sites and the difficulty in stamping them out.
It explains: “We are still finding about as many new illegal waste sites as we are stopping – a situation that has prevailed for the last 10 years. In the financial year 2018 to 2019, we stopped 912 illegal waste sites, 12% more than last year. We found 896 new sites, 5% more than last year.”
The Agency explained that illegal sites were the “single biggest” source of serious environmental pollution incidents in 2018, reaching 81 in total.
“Illegal waste sites and fly-tipping cause pollution, attract vermin and can be costly for landowners to clear up”, the Agency said.
However, the Agency said that the Government’s Resources and Waste Strategy outlined a new strategic approach to tackling waste crime and might “better protect the environment” In future.
It also pointed to new landfill tax rules which came into effect increasing the penalties for illegal waste sites and to new powers which came into force in March 2019 giving the Agency authority to lock up illegal waste sites and block access to prevent waste piling up and posing a risk to the environment.
“We can require rogue operators to clear all the waste at a problem waste site, not just the illegal waste”, the Agency explained.
Exports
Another area the Agency regulates is waste exports and the Agency also provides a summary of its work here.
The Agency said it inspected 926 containers in 2018/2019, with 236 being returned to their site of loading.
“In doing so we prevented the illegal export of 12,690 tonnes of unsuitable waste. If the waste had been shipped and we had been required to repatriate it, the cost to the UK would have been an estimated £1.1 million.”, the Agency said.
The Ageny added that businesses involved in the shipment of wastes must ensure that the waste they handle is managed in an environmentally sound manner throughout its shipment and recycling.
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