Environment Agency leads international initiative to tackle ‘waste tourists’ and E-waste dumping
The Environment Agency is heading up a groundbreaking international environmental crime group to help tackle illegal dumping of electrical waste on developing countries.
The INTERPOL Global Crime Group is a worldwide intelligence-led operation which includes environmental crime investigators in the United States and Europe such as the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Dutch Environment Agency VROM.
Working with INTERPOL, the group will investigate links between organised criminal networks, ‘waste tourists’ and the illegal export of electrical waste, especially to developing countries.
‘Waste tourists’ are people who visit the UK as tourists with the intention of organising the purchase and export of waste. During their visit the ‘waste tourist’ will get one or more containers filled with waste and arrange for export. The ‘waste tourist’s’ typically short stay makes it very difficult to bring them to justice.
The INTERPOL group will better co-ordinate the exchange of intelligence between environment agencies. It will also conduct enquiries via an International Task Force to prevent countries such as Nigeria, Ghana and some in the Far East becoming dumping grounds for waste electrics.
Speaking ahead of next week’s Environment Agency annual conference Environment ’09, chairman Lord Chris Smith said: “Investigations have found that each year thousands of tonnes of waste electrical equipment are shipped from Europe and America to developing countries to be stripped down – often by children under appalling conditions – to extract valuable metals such as gold, copper and aluminium.
“This is unacceptable. It is essential that we work with our counterparts in other countries to share intelligence and stamp out the growing problem of illegal waste exports. The group’s aim is to tackle an international problem with an international response.
The Environment Agency-led INTERPOL Global Crime Group initiative won the praise of both the US and Canadian Governments during recent international meetings.
Lord Smith together with Chief Executive Paul Leinster met with US EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson and her officials in Washington last week to discuss key global issues such as climate change, waste and water resources. The two organisations will work closely on intelligence-led illegal waste operations in the future.
ENDS
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NOTES FOR EDITORS
- Images of E-waste are available on request from the Press Office.
- Filming opportunities and interviews can be arranged on request
Overall facts and figures:
- The UK generates over one million tonnes of electrical waste each year, enough to fill Wembley Stadium 6 times
- During their lifetime, one UK citizen produces 3.3 tonnes of electrical waste
- Two million TV sets are discarded every year
- Around 450,000 tonnes of electricals were reused or recycled in the UK in 2008
In addition to heading up the INTERPOL Global Crime Group the Environment Agency is tackling illegal E-waste exports in a range of ways including:
Major investigations – the Environment Agency’s National Environmental Crime Team is currently conducting 8 separate investigations into the export of E-waste. Twelve arrests have been made to date.
Unannounced inspections - The Environment Agency carried out more than double the number of unannounced site inspections of operators that export waste in the first six months of 2009 (166), compared with the whole of 2008 (72).
Port Checks: The total number of port check days carried out by the Environment Agency more than trebled from 44 in 2008 to 132 in the first six months of 2009 as the National Environmental Crime Team stepped up its evidence gathering for an increasing number of investigations.
Transport Checks: The total number of transport checks of waste exporters rose from 194 in 2008 to 616 in the first six months of 2009.
Stop Notices: The Environment Agency placed Stop Notices on 40 containers in 2008, which rose to 53 in the first six months of 2009.
