Recyled waste dumped on Third World
Environment agency probe raises concerns that EU regulations could be creating illegal trade
London: Thousands of tonnes of recycling carefully sorted by families in Britain is being dumped illegally in the Third World.
A three-year investigation by the Environment Agency has uncovered a multi-million pound trade in shipping waste out of the country.
Investigators are now bringing prosecutions against 30 criminal gangs, with five cases already going through the courts.
The revelations come in the week it emerged that nearly 140 councils force householders to sort rubbish into five or more containers — with some insisting on as many as nine.
They are likely to raise concerns about EU recycling laws, which are blamed for creating the illegal trade. They also risk fuelling public cynicism about the value of recycling.
Many of the cases involve waste electrical items which may no longer be sent to landfill in the UK and end up on toxic dumps in Africa. In one case, investigators found a shipment of around 10,000 defunct and broken televisions and computer screens.
Thousands of used tyres have been sent to Vietnam and other countries in the Far East. And, despite a number of high profile cases in the past, investigators have also uncovered a flourishing illegal trade in the export of ordinary household recycling, such as bottles, cans and newspapers.
Organised gangs
Sarah Chare, head of the Environment Agency's national enforcement service, described the waste dumping as a ‘despicable' crime.
She said in Africa children are paid to extract valuable metals from circuit boards in appalling conditions. Waste plastics are routinely burned in the open air, giving off clouds of poison gas, while heavy metals and other toxic substances leak into waterways.
Chare said: "These are organised criminal gangs, who are out to make as much money as possible without any regard for the harm they are causing. It is very much a reputational issue for our country to have criminals dumping material in the developing world with appalling consequences for the local people and environment. It also damages the legitimate recycling industry in this country.'
