North East Lincolnshire Council Environmental Enforcement officers seized two vehicles during a multi-agency operation in Grimsby.
The vehicles were seized as part of an operation involving North East Lincolnshire Council (NELC) Environmental Enforcement officers, Humberside Police, Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) at Birchin Way in Grimsby.
During the operation, Environmental Enforcement officers opened 14 case files relating to waste carrier offences and for drivers failing to produce waste transfer notes. Two vehicles were seized for unlawfully carrying controlled waste.
Drivers must produce the correct waste carrier paperwork within 14 days or face fines of up to £300.
Section 75 (4) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 determines controlled waste to mean household, industrial and commercial waste or any such waste.
A North East Lincolnshire Council spokesperson said:
“Unlicensed waste carriers are known to advertise their services on social media, offering to take away quantities of waste for a fee.
“Once they’ve been paid, some fly-tip the waste instead of correctly disposing of it. This often results in significant damage on the environment and can cost huge sums of tax payer money to collect and dispose of responsibly.”
On the same day, officers from Humberside Police issued 16 Traffic Offence Reports (fixed penalty notices), two vehicle defect reports, and one driver was arrested for drug-driving.
The DVSA inspected a total of 17 light goods vehicles. DVSA officers issued 8 roadside prohibitions for a variety of identified traffic offences including defective or worn tyres, defective brakes/steering and chassis corrosion.
In addition, the two vehicles seized by NELC Environmental Enforcement officers were determined by DVSA to be overweight and were served with fixed penalty notices.
Humberside Police identified suspect vehicles and escorted them to a Designated Inspection Area in Birchin Way Police Station car park. They conducted police national computer (PNC) checks and identified Road Traffic Offences.
The DVSA inspected vehicles for risk of non-compliance with roadworthiness standards and mechanical defects.
HMRC sampled and analysed fuel from 16 vehicles to determine fuel tax evasion offences.
This operation follows on from a similar Operation in October 2021 and is part of the the ongoing work that the NELC Environmental Enforcement team does to tackle unlawful waste carriers.
Results
Results from the operation on Tuesday 5 April:
NELC
- 14 Case files have been opened relating to Waste Carrier Offences and failing to produce Waste Transfer Notes
- 2 x vehicles were seized for unlawfully carrying controlled waste
Humberside Police
- 16 Traffic Offence Reports
- 2 x Vehicle Defect Reports
- 1 x arrest for drug driving
DVSA
- A Total of 17 Light Goods Vehicles inspected.
- 1 prohibited for 21.14% overload
- 1 prohibited for 16% overload
- 1 Prohibited for insecure load
- 3 prohibited for defective/worn tyres
- 1 prohibited for defective brakes/steering and corroded chassis
- 1 reported for offence of no excise duty.
HMRC
- Carried out challenges for oils offences on 16 commercial vans. The fuel was tested in a mobile laboratory but none of the samples taken gave any cause for concerns or warranted further action
Waste carrier legislation
The current carriers, brokers and dealers (“CBD”) regime requires any person or business that transports waste, buys and sells waste, or arranges the transportation of waste in England to be registered with the Environment Agency as a waste carrier, broker or dealer.
A waste carrier is someone who transports controlled waste (waste that is subject to legislative control in either its handling or disposal) as part of their business.
If a carrier is registered with the relevant agency in England, Wales or Scotland, they can carry waste across the borders of these three nations.
There are two tiers for registration. Individuals or businesses that only carry waste produced in the course of their business activities (other than construction or demolition waste) can register as lower tier. If a person or organisation carries others’ waste, carries construction or demolition waste, or acts as a broker or dealer, their activities are classed as upper tier.
It has been estimated the cost of waste crime to the UK economy is £1.11 billion per year and the cost to the English economy alone was recently estimated to be in the region of £924 million.
The main economic costs are lost business revenues to the legitimate waste sector, loss of Landfill Tax through misclassification of waste and costs to the public sector of clearing abandoned waste sites and fly-tipped waste.
A recent Independent Review into Serious and Organised Crime in the Waste Sector highlighted “the extent to which waste is handled by an increasing number of, often opaque, intermediaries”.
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