Supplementary memorandum from the Environment
Agency
1. ADDITIONAL
FUNDING
Q1. In his response to 022, Dr Leinster
refers to discussions with DEFRA on additional funding to enable
the Agency to expand its role in information gathering and data
analysis. What progress has been made in these discussions? What
is the level of additional funding required? What additional data
services is the Agency hoping to undertake?
1.1 Agency proposals
We have made two proposals to Defra for additional
funding for the Agency in response to the Strategy Unit Report.
One is for a Fly Tipping abatement Task Force and the second
for a National Waste Data Centre for England and Wales.
Both are based on core funding being available on a continuing
basis but with additional funding in Year 1. It is possible that
funds will only be available for one year—2003-04. If this
is the case, the Agency will not be able to employ, train and
deploy additional staff and will have to seriously revise its
Year 1 proposals. We have also prepared a bid for funds from the
Treasury Capital Modernisation Fund over three years. This is
to develop a modern on-line system for capturing data on waste
production and, management. Discussions are ongoing with Defra
and the Treasury on all three proposals, including preparation
of more detailed business cases.
1.2 Fly-Tipping
We estimate that fly tipping is currently costing
all parties between £100 million and £200 million per
year in England and Wales. We predict that illegal waste management
will increase in the near future in response to a number of strategic
pressures:
— The proposed increase in Landfill
Tax will affect all non-inert industrial and commercial wastes—especially
general non-hazardous wastes. If the tax reaches £35 per
tonne the cost of a normal skip will at least double.
— A sharp reduction in hazardous waste
landfill capacity following the end of co-disposal under the Landfill
Directive in 2004. This will drive much of the roughly 50% of
hazardous wastes that still go to landfill into more costly pre
treatments of recovery/disposal. Pre treatment will cost roughly
an extra £50 per tonne, high temperature incineration could
cost over £1,000 per tonne.
— Early introduction of higher/direct
charges for household wastes will affect householders' waste costs
directly for the first time.
All of the above pressures will increase the
cost of responsible waste management, and increase the incentive
to cut costs through illegal waste management. This will include
mis-description of wastes, abuse of exemptions, abandonment and
fly tipping. We believe that to protect people and the evironment,
it would be sensible to provide funding—possibly from the
centralised portion of the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme, to combat
fly tipping. Our proposals include increased enforcement activity
at a local level by the agency and better support to local authorities.
Both the environment Agency and local authorities also need clearer
responsibilities and improved powers to help combat fly tipping
and these are also under discussion with Defra in relation to
the proposed Anti-social Behaviour Bill.
Key Agency Proposals:
— overall increased level of resources
for illegal waste management in Environment Agency Area offices
(100 FTE)
— a new national fly tipping data base,
used by the Agency and local authorities
— dedicated specialist criminal intelligence
and surveillance capability to support local fly tipping abatement
task forces
— dedicated legal support and advice,
to streamline and increase formal enforcement and prosecutions
— co-ordination of Agency and local
authority task force programmes
— national surveillance and enforcement
training programmes
— pilot multi-agency (Agency, local
authorities, police, courts, landowners and businesses) anti fly
tipping programmes in two major urban areas
— targeted clean-up for major illegal
disposal sites
— high profile publicity for fly tipping
abatement and enforcement
Total cost for year 1—£14 million.
Subsequent costs per year—£6 million.
1.3 Waste Data and Information
The Strategy Unit report criticises waste data
collection and publication for being "widespread but not
very well co-ordinated". Their recommendations 15, 20 and
21 identify the need for reliable and timely information on wastes
and waste management options. The Agency already collects and
reports on waste data and develops technical guidance on the waste
management decision makers, the Agency proposes that it provides
a national waste data service.
Key agency proposals:
— to collect and co-ordinate data on
the volumes of all waste streams generated in England and Wales
and to present this as in formation to all the key stakeholders
involved in the management of waste
— identify the main components and
likely changes in each of the waste streams
— to provide tools, techniques and
training to support the development of regional and local waste
plans including ongoing development of Life Cycle Assessment software
packages
— to provide data and performance information
on near market waste technologies to supplement data on Best Practicable
Environment Options (BEPO) and Best Available Techniques (BAT)
provided as part of Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) guidance
for waste disposal and waste incineration industries
— to provide information on developing
market trends, capacities and the impact of legislative changes
on waste market economics
— to undertake Life Cycle Assessments
to inform the development of key policy decisions as they impact
product design
Total cost for 1 year—£16.2 million.
Subsequent costs per year—£5 million.
1.4 On-Line data—Treasury Capital
Modernisation Scheme
The Agency is also bidding for funding over
three years for a collaborative project for real time information
on waste arising, movements and management/disposal for commercial
and industrial waste. The project would require significant investment
and co-operation between the Agency and the waste management industry
to introduce systems to monitor wastes from the point of production
through to eventual recovery of disposal. The system would draw
on information already required under the Duty of Care and any
enhancements needed to monitor Landfill Directive pre treatment
requirements.
The bid is for £15 million over a three
year period and complements the development of the proposed waste
data and information centre.
2. TRENDS IN
INDUSTRIAL AND
COMMERCIAL WASTE
Q2. In response to 028, Mr Lee quoted
figures on the amount of waste recycled or recovered by industry
and commerce. What timeframe do these figures apply to an is it
possible to identify trends over time? It would also be helpful
to have a source for the figures.
2.1 Waste statistics given in the Agency's
evidence are generally from 1998-99. we completed the first national
survey of industrial and commercial waste in that year and have
used data from the same year for other wastes (eg household waste)
in the preparation of our 2001 Strategic Waste management Assessments.
Some waste data has been subsequently updated eg construction
industry wastes in 2001 for our 2002 Strategic Waste Information
publication. We have begun work on the second national waste survey
and will begin publishing updated information in 2004, allowing
comparison with the first survey and simple trend analysis. The
surveys themselves are large sample surveys, mainly collecting
data through visits to waste producers. These are slow, expensive
and difficult to interpret over small areas. The Agency favours
moving to a more steady state waste data system for the future,
gathering routinely prepared information from the waste management
industry.
2.2 75 million tonnes of industrial and
commercial waste were produced in 1998-99. 50 million tonnes of
this waste came from industry and 25 million tonnes from commercial
sectors. 61% of industrial and commercial waste arises from small
and medium sized enterprises and over 70% of commercial waste
currently goes to landfill. Nearly 17% (12.8 million tonnes) of
waste in the industrial sector comprises mineral wastes and residues
from steal works and power stations. Changes in these volumes,
produced by relatively few companies, mask activity in the bulk
of the industrial sector.
2.3 If we exclude mineral wastes and residues
(where over 70% are recycled or reused), three sectors dominate
industrial and commercial waste:
These three sectors alone are responsible for
nearly 30% of wastes from the commercial and industrial sector.
Much of this waste is general industrial and commercial waste
where landfill disposal dominates. Clear waste reduction targets
in these sectors are required as an important first step towards
reducing the considerable waste arising from businesses.
3. GREEN PROCUREMENT
Q3. In 035-7, reference was made to
the Agency's own efforts on green procurement. The Committee would
welcome further examples of good practice within the agency and
further details of the work the Agency has done with other bodies
to spread the green procurement message.
3.1 It is essential that the environment
agency demonstrates best practice in running its own operations.
To do this we have a management system including environmental
and quality matters accredited to both ISO 14001 and 9001.
3.2 The first step in implementing this
system is to identify the agency's environmental impacts and the
environmental and ethical credibility of our supply base. One
of the highest impact areas is procurement, involving £380
million goods and services each year. We therefore work with our
top 20 suppliers (contracts worth £200 million) focusing
on construction and information technology, to agree joint plans
to reduce environmental impacts. With COMPAQ we have agreed:
— participation in an Agency-led packaging
benchmarking with Hewlett Packard
— identification of the recycled component
of packaging and a plan to increase it
— identification of the recycled components
in IT products
— to identify the issues (cost and
technical) surrounding utilisation of upgraded components rather
than buying new ones
— the provision of information on how
COMPAQ evaluate their suppliers from an environmental prespective.
Further details on these programmes are contained
in the Environment Agency's Annual Environment Report 2001-02.
3.3 We have also worked with:
— Forum for the future to promote environmental
procurement techniques
— the Chartered Institute of Purchasing
and Supply to develop environmental procurement guidance
— utility companies to establish an
environmental procurement group, which is now involved in developing
tools and techniques specific to their needs
— the Association of chartered Certified
Accountants (ACCA) and other bodies on environmental accounting
for businesses
3.4 At a Government level, our Chief Executive
gave a presentation to Green Ministers on the challenge of environmental
procurement. As a result, we are working closely with the Office
of Commerce (OGC) and Defra to help develop an environmental procurement
policy and system for application across the whole of Government.
3.5 Our work has been recognised by the
Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply who have awarded
the Agency and Kelly Award for the best ethical purchasing initiative
of 2002.
3.6 Overall in our business we have also
been able to reduce the environmental effect of our own activities
from our base line year of 1999-2000. A number of the key deliverables
during 2001-02 have been:
— a 4.3% fall in energy consumption
— a switch to renewable energy at a
lower cost for 40% of our energy need
— reducing water consumption by 11.4%
— reducing office waste by 27%
— reducing the purchase of paper by
25%
— the purchase of 59% of secondary/recycled
aggregates (reducing construction wastes by 402,483m3), avoiding
the need for virgin aggregates
4. WASTE HANDLING
CONVICTIONS
Q4. 059 refers to the increasing number
of prosecutions for illegal waste handling. If possible, please
provide corresponding figures on convictions.
4.1 We secured 466 convictions (including
132 for fly tipping) in 2001-02 under waste legislation—a
93% increase over 1996-97. Average fines in these cases increased
from £1,132 in 1996-97 to £3,004 in 2001-02. we remain
concerned that fines are still too low, failing to act as a deterrent
and not reflecting the economic gains from illegal waste management.
For example, a recent case in Wales involved illegal cost savings
in excess of £400,000 but resulted in total fines of less
than £1,000 and no costs awarded to the Agency.
4.2 The Agency has consistently sought to
influence the courts and Government to increase the level of fines.
We have worked closely with the Magistrates Association for some
years and contributed to sentencing guidelines for environmental
crimes. We have addressed the Association's AGM and produced further
sentencing training material, launched by Michael Meacher on 20
November 2002 .
4.3 Agency enforcement and prosecution activities
are funded through Government grant-in-aid which is reducing year
on year. Under the expected outcome of the funding review for
2003-04 the Agency is having to propose a cut in the funding for
enforcement work which can only partly be re-couped through efficiencies.
We have therefore made a substantial bid to Defra to support our
response to illegal waste management and fly tipping.
January 2003
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