Farmers urged to take part in waste crime survey
7th February 2023
The Environment Agency is seeking views from farmers and landowners to help tackle waste crime in England.
Stock photo for illustration.
Victims of waste crime, such as farmers and landowners, are being asked to respond to the Environment Agency’s National Waste Crime Survey.
The survey aims to understand the scale and impacts of waste crime in England and find out what would encourage people to report waste criminals. It also seeks to understand how to deter criminals and assess the effectiveness of actions taken so far.
The 2021 survey revealed that 20% of waste is suspected to be handled illegally but only a quarter of incidents are reported to EA.
Waste crime could include anything from dumping of waste to fraudulent producer responsibility claims, deliberate breaches of permits, metal theft and the growing issue of the waste industry being used to launder money.
Government statistics show that fly-tipping fell by 4% in the past 12 months but the number of incidents was still among the highest on record (1.09 million). However, the figures do not include fly-tipping on private land, which is thought to affect nearly two-thirds of farmers, according to the NFU.
NFU Environment Forum chair Richard Bramley said: “Fly-tipping continues to plague the lives of so many of us living and working in the countryside and is something I witnessed first-hand recently when I had dozens of empty glass bottles dumped on my farm.”
Farms are increasingly seeing industrial-scale amounts of rubbish such as builders’ rubble and hazardous materials, taking a huge emotional and financial toll on farmers, he added.
“The NFU continues to call for urgent action. This includes making it easier for the public to reduce and recycle waste, and properly punishing offenders who are caught dumping waste illegally with punitive fines, so they act as a deterrent.
“We also want to see a consistent approach across the country where police, government agencies and local authorities are working more closely together to tackle the problem.”
The EA survey takes around 15 minutes to complete and closes on 27th February at 10am. Complete the survey here: Snap Surveys (welcomesyourfeedback.net)
