Vans queue up for checking by the Environment Agency
Illegal waste in the Watford area has been the target of a roadside crackdown.
Crime officers from the Environment Agency supported a day of vehicle checks with Hertfordshire Constabulary, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency and Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs in a bid to reduce and disrupt waste crime.
During the day of action, 82 lorries and vans were stopped on the A41 at Bushey, to identify non-compliance across the different agencies. Some 35 vehicles were of interest to the Environment Agency, whose concern was companies having the right registration for transporting waste.
Any vehicle moving waste was checked using authorised sites where it would be handled properly.
The owners of two vehicles are to be investigated by the Environment Agency, while a further 18 drivers were given advice and guidance about how to transport waste within the law. The remaining 15 waste vehicles stopped had the relevant registration.
Hannah Wooldridge, a waste officer from the Environment Agency in Hertfordshire, said:
Working with partners such as the police helps us run roadside operations, and the ability to share intelligence around non-compliant waste carriers. The Environment Agency wants to make sure businesses carrying waste have the proper authorisations to allow them to transport and transfer rubbish – a waste carrier's registration from the Environment Agency and waste transfer note from the waste producer".
We also want to make it very clear to the general public that everyone has a duty of care to ensure their waste is managed and disposed of correctly by the people they give it to. If you use illegal waste carriers to take your rubbish you risk being fined up to £5,000.
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