Multi-agency operation sees 36 vehicles stopped and waste collectors’ paperwork checked.
Environment Agency officers – working with Dartford and Gravesham Borough councils, Kent Police Rural Task Force and the Dartford and Gravesham Community Policing teams – stopped 36 waste vehicles and seized eight of the vehicles while checking their paperwork was in order.
The Environment Agency was checking vehicles in the Dartford and Gravesham area, to check they had a valid waste carrier’s licence and waste transfer note describing what waste they were carrying, where they picked the waste up from and where they were taking it to.
Waste collectors must have this paperwork as part of their ‘duty of care’ to be able to collect waste legally.
The Environment Agency and its partners seized the eight vehicles for various offences such as no valid insurance.
They also found a number of waste offences, including not being registered as a waste carrier.
The Environment Agency will be taking further action against any operators that had no valid waste carrier’s licence or were not compliant with their duty of care.
Matt Higginson, Environment Manager for the Environment Agency, said: “We regularly run these multi-agency operations to check waste collectors are complying with the law.
“As the results from these operations show, we will not hesitate to use our enforcement powers.
“Everyone has their part to play in stopping waste crime. To help avoid giving your waste to an illegal waste carrier and your waste ending up at an illegal waste site, we encourage you to ask your waste collector for their waste carrier’s registration number and ask to see their waste transfer note. They must be able to produce both. We also encourage people to avoid paying in cash.”
Any investigation by the Environment Agency that leads to a successful conviction could see those responsible facing extensive fines and even a prison sentence.
