Burnham plans crackdown on gangs profiting from illegal waste

The days of criminal gangs making easy money from dumping waste are “over”, the prime minister has pledged.

Andy Burnham has ordered a new crackdown on gangs profiting from illegal waste and promised to clean up three more of the country’s “toxic dumps”.

The plan will see cash, cars and homes seized from criminals, with a bigger role for the police and the National Crime Agency, and more Environment Agency (EA) officers on the front line.

Fines for waste offences will rise from £300 to £5,000, while the use of drones will also increase.

Subscribe for free to our weekly newsletter for exclusive and original coverage from ITV News. Direct to your inbox every Friday morning.

Mayors will lead the effort in their own areas, with a reformed partnership between national and regional agencies and councils which will facilitate better intelligence and capability sharing at a local level.

Burnham said that his government is giving authorities “the powers to hunt down” those responsible and pledged to clean up communities.

“These toxic dumps have blighted communities for too long. I said we would clean them up – and that’s exactly what we’re announcing today.

“The days of making easy money out of waste are over. We’re giving authorities the powers to hunt down the people responsible. We will seize their assets and shut their operations down.

“These mountains of rubbish have been a clear sign to communities that politics hasn’t been working for them or their area. This government is going to tackle the issues that have been ignored by Westminster for too long and bring back hope.”

Following clean-up work of thousands of tonnes of rubbish, including from one site next to the River Cherwell in Oxfordshire, three more areas have been identified for clearance.

These are: Power Station Road, Isle of Sheppey, Kent; Aymer Close, Runnymede, Surrey; Midland Road, Bradford, West Yorkshire.

Together, the sites contain around 22,000 tonnes of illegally dumped waste and are harming an estimated 2,900 families.

Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle said the issue is not just about dumping rubbish but is “serious orgnanised crime”.

“This isn’t just about people dumping rubbish,” she said.

“Large-scale waste sites are fuelled by serious, organised crime, and we need to use the full force of the law to tackle it and root it out at source.

“Communities have been subjected to horrendous conditions and denied the pride they deserve in the places they call home. This ends now.

“We are cleaning up sites, but we are also stopping the cycle, driving faster prevention and disruption, better intelligence, and stronger coordination across the system.”

The environment secretary said illegal dumping “ends now”. / Credit: iStock

The first regions to work on this new approach will be West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester where Mayors and council leaders will be given the lead in co-ordinating councils, police, regulators, and other enforcement agencies.

The government say that the plans build on the national partnership model of the Joint Unit for Waste Crime, but with decisions driven by regional intelligence and by the communities worst affected.

Philip Duffy, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency said that his teams will be “better placed” to prevent the crimes and help the environment recover.

He said: “We know how much damage illegal waste sites do to the communities that live near them.

“By strengthening our intelligence and analysis capability, and working more closely with regional partners, Environment Agency teams across the country will be better placed to stay well ahead of the criminals behind this activity and support the recovery of the places we call home.”