Supplementary memorandum by the Environment
Agency (GTS 48(a))
GREEN WASTES AND LPG BOTTLES
BACKGROUND
Both the Agency and local authorities (LAs)
have powers to tackle fly-tipping and other forms of waste-crime.
The Agency and the Local Government Association (LGA) have agreed
a protocol that sets out the sorts of fly-tipping incidents that
the Agency and LAs respectively will respond to. This protocol
is currently under review.
In general, the Agency will deal with the large-scale
illegal dumping of waste (more than a 20 tonne lorry load), illegal
waste activities involving organised crime and the dumping of
hazardous wastes in drums or containers with a capacity of greater
than 75 litres.
In many cases, responsibility may rest with
the occupier or owner of the fly-tipped land to remove the wastes.
In some cases, eg publicly owned land, the local authority will
remove fly-tipped wastes. The Agency is not resourced to clear-away
illegally dumped wastes.
The Agency's role in tackling the dumping of green
waste, large tree cuttings etc, on land across different local
authority areas
In line with the protocol agreed with the LGA,
at the present time illegally dumped green wastes would normally
be dealt with by the local authority. In 2003 the Agency received
248 reports of incidents involving green wastes. This represents
5% of the total of almost 5,400 incidents involving fly-tipped
wastes received by the Agency in that year.
In general, the pollution risk from fly-tipped
green wastes is low as is the number of reported incidents, even
though there will often be an amenity impact. This means that
incidents of this nature would not usually be classified as a
serious incident requiring Agency attendance and action.
Fly-tipped green wastes normally lack any "signature"
to identify the source so gathering evidence on the identity of
the perpetrator or the original owner of the waste is almost impossible,
unless the dumping was witnessed directly or high quality CCTV
evidence is available. This limits the scope for the enforcement
authorities to take formal action.
In an effort to address this problem, the Agency
works closely with others such as Las, Police and landowners to
address this problem as a whole and many area Agency offices have
their own local networks aimed at minimising the impact of these
activities.
To tackle cross-boundary fly-tipping, several
LAs and the Agency may have to work together with the Police and
others. Other local crime-prevention initiatives may play an important
role in helping tackle this issue. Defra are currently consulting
on proposals that could provide greater clarity over tackling
a range of environmental crimes through Crime and Disorder Reduction
Strategies.[1]
The Agency is also currently working with Defra
to explore ways of making the law more effective. Changes to the
system of Registration of Waste Carriers and the Duty of Care
could assist in this respect. For example, requiring those who
produce and take away green wastes (eg landscape gardeners) to
be registered and encouraging householders to adopt a responsible
approach to having their waste removed, eg not by an unknown "man-with-van".
How the Agency is tackling the dumping of gas
cylinders
In line with the Agency-LGA protocol, the dumping
of gas cylinders would normally be dealt with by the local authority.
The Agency does not collect data on the number of incidents reported
to it that involve gas cylinders.
In general, gas cylinders are disposed of when
they are emptied although the cylinder itself can in some circumstances
be re-used. We have anecdotal information that in some cases the
cylinders that are dumped may have been stolen.
It used to be the case, as with beer kegs, that
the cylinder was a valued item that could be returned to the initial
owner (eg the gas supplier), as they can be re-used, and a take
back scheme was in place. This even extended to the removal of
fly-tipped gas cylinders. More recently it has become increasingly
difficult to get the cylinders removed this way. It is not clear
why this is the case, but perhaps the cost of transport relative
to the value of the cylinder(s) is a factor.
The storage of any significant quantity of gas
cylinders has essential safety requirements as the cylinders are
never completely empty and present a fire risk. Storage should
be in accordance with guidance issued by the Health and Safety
Executive in HSG 51/71.
As with green waste, there is difficulty in
proving the identity of the person that dumped the cylinder or
even who had been using the cylinder prior to dumping.
Environment Agency
September 2004
1 Clean Neighbourhoods Consultation Document. Defra,
July 2004. Back
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