Head Office Press Office
- 4-Sep-2007 - Courts handed out more than
11 years behind bars, millions in court
fines and more than 240 days of community
service to individuals, companies and company
directors who committed environmental crime
last year, according to a new report launched
today (Tuesday).
Barbara Young, Chief Executive of the Environment
Agency, said: "We’re pleased the courts
are starting to get the message that environmental
crime is a serious offence and handed out
over £3.5 million in fines - a rise
in nearly £1 million since 2005.
"Although this is a good sign, penalties
for environmental crime still aren’t harsh
enough. Some fines can be as low as a thousandth
of a per cent of a company's worth and despite
the higher penalties, the average fine was
still only £11,800. The law is there
to protect our environment and so those
businesses and individuals who think they
can cut corners best watch out - we won’t
tolerate it.
"Waste cheats for example make money
from their crimes, pollute our environment
and damage the legitimate, law-abiding businesses.
So the penalties need to reflect the seriousness
of the crime."
The report also shows that this year, the
total fines against the waste sector overtook
the water sector. In 2006 businesses in
the waste sector totalled £778,077
in fines over £5,000, compared to
£623,075 for the water sector.
The Environment Agency is making full use
of the tools in its armoury in the fight
against environmental crime with Environmental
Crime Teams across England and Wales, which
specialise in intelligence gathering and
enforcement. Anti social behaviour orders
and curfew orders are just some of the means
it has to crack down on offenders. Only
last month, together with the Assets Recovery
Agency, they obtained a court order to freeze
and seek to recover assets from a waste
cheat who was prosecuted for illegally dumping
hazardous waste.
Barbara Young continued: "Today’s
report shows that there are many businesses
and operators out there that are performing
well with more than 50 per cent of the sites
we regulate getting the top rating for environmental
performance and management. We are not interested
in hassling businesses and operators that
run a good ship as it’s a waste of their
time and ours. That’s why we focus our attention
on helping the poorer performers and catching
the rogues.
"As the Government’s Macrory Review
recommended, the Environment Agency needs
additional powers to directly impose monetary
penalties and other more flexible penalties
to help us support legitimate businesses
that comply with environmental laws by tackling
competitors that undercut them by avoiding
the law and damage our environment."
Spotlight is the Environment Agency’s annual
report on the environmental performance
of businesses in England and Wales. The
other top findings from the report include:
Since 2000, the sites we regulate have
reduced releases of most air pollutants,
including lead by 41 per cent and sulphur
dioxide by 50 per cent. As a flexible regulator
we’re focussed on reducing administrative
burden on low-risk businesses and freeing
up resources for targeting more risky operators.
This encourages operators to protect our
environment and allows us to get tough on
those who don’t.
Greenhouse gases are starting to creep
up as our economy thrives. Levels of these
gases had decreased by 16.8 per cent since
11000, but in 2006 rose slightly meaning
the sectors we regulate now accounted for
over 34% of all of the UK’s greenhouse gases.
Although this is partly due to the fact
more industries are reporting to us, it
is still a worrying trend.
Although some businesses are trying hard
to reduce their waste and achieve better
waste recovery, many more still need to
address this critical issue. Over 40 per
cent more waste was produced by sectors
regulated by the Environment Agency compared
to 2000 - a large amount of this increase
is due to changes in regulation meaning
more companies have to report the waste
they produce to us.
Emissions trading must step up a gear,
the EU Emissions Trading Scheme is not driving
greenhouse gases down fast enough. Emissions
from installations covered by the scheme
in England and Wales rose from 203.6 million
tonnes in 2005 to 211.5 million tonnes in
2006.
Barbara Young added: "A recent Environment
Agency survey shows that only 8% of businesses
think they have a significant impact on
our environment, a worrying sign as we all
have an impact on our environment and part
to play in combating climate change.
"At the end of the day it pays to
be green. Research shows that by adapting
to climate change through improved efficiencies,
businesses can save as much money as an
equivalent five per cent increase in sales.
We all know too well that we have little
time left to put the brakes on climate change
and preserve our environment, so business
as usual just won’t do."
A copy of Spotlight 2006 is available online
at www.environment-agency.gov.uk/spotlight
or by calling us on 08708 506 506.
THE HEADLINES BY SECTORS
Chemicals
The majority of releases to air from this
sector decreased in 2006. Greenhouse gas
releases decreased by nine per cent between
2005 and 2006.
Forty-eight per cent of sites had a good
A rating for their environmental performance
in 2006, up from 42 per cent in 2005.
The Environment Agency is working with
the chemical sector in implementing the
Chemical Sector Plan, which sets out voluntary
environmental targets for the industry.
Seven businesses were fined £5,000
or more for environmental offences, to a
total of £79,000. Most were related
to water pollution.
Construction and demolition
The Environment Agency is working with
the construction sector in developing and
implementing the Construction Sector Plan,
which sets out voluntary environmental targets
for the industry.
The construction and demolition sector
caused 23 serious pollution incidents in
2006.
The construction and demolition industry
produces 91 million tonnes of waste each
year, the largest single source of waste
in the UK. As many as 13 million tonnes
of raw materials delivered to construction
sites remain unused, before being sent away
for disposal.
Twenty businesses in the sector were fined
£5,000 or more after we prosecuted
them last year. These fines totalled £242,000,
and most offences were waste related.
Energy
Fifty-six per cent of all the sites we
regulate in this sector achieved band A
status for operator environmental performance.
No sites were rated the poorest E band.
Total waste produced was at its lowest
level since 2002. With 50 per cent recovered
for further use.
The sector caused eight serious breaches
of permit conditions in 2006 compared with
five in 2005.
The sector caused 10 serious incidents
caused in 2006.
The energy sector released over two-thirds
of the greenhouse gases (GHG) emitted by
sites we regulate in 2006. Overall GHG releases
decreased slightly from 2005 to 2006, following
a slight decrease in electricity demand
(both less than one per cent).
Farming
Farms in England and Wales produce more
than 300,000 tonnes of non-natural waste
each year. Just under a third of this is
plastic waste. About a quarter of farmers
now recycle or recover non-natural waste.
Some farmers are already acting to adapt
to climate change by using water more efficiently,
changing cropping practices to suit the
changing climate and helping to reduce flood
risk by altering soil and crop management
practices.
The farms we regulate were responsible
for 34 serious breaches of permit conditions
that had the potential for environmental
harm in 2006. Most of those affected water.
However the number of serious pollution
incidents caused by farming fell by 35 per
cent last year to the lowest on record.
Food and drink
Operator performance improved in 2006:
the proportion of sites ranked in the highest
rating band increased from 30 per cent to
36 per cent.
The sector was responsible for five per
cent of all serious industrial pollution
incidents in 2006. The sector caused 21
serious pollution incidents in 2006, compared
to 27 in 2005.
Sites we regulate in this sector are the
third highest producers of waste (transferred
off-site) of all the sites we regulate,
contributing 3.4 million tonnes of waste
in 2006. Of this waste, 68 per cent was
recovered.
Metals
The parts of the sector we regulate emit
relatively large amounts of lead and dioxins.
Although releases of both to air have decreased
in 2006, we are working with the sector
to help continue this trend.
Operator environmental performance in the
sector remained on the increase: 59 per
cent of sites achieved the highest band
A and only four sites had the lowest band
E.
The sector is a big user of recycled material
from other sectors, partly because new raw
materials are becoming harder to source.
About 40 per cent of UK steel and aluminium
is made from scrap metal. Over two million
end-of-life vehicles are processed by the
sector every year and around two billion
cans are recycled every year.
Minerals
Greenhouse gases releases from the sector
increased by two per cent between 2005 and
2006. The trend tends to follow economic
activity, with releases going up (or down)
with production.
The sector caused three per cent of all
industrial pollution incidents in 2006.
This is twice as many as in 2005, and the
highest number since 2000.
The total amount of waste produced (and
transferred off-site) by the sector fell
by 11 per cent in 2006. The hazardous waste
component of this reduced even more: by
nearly a third.
Two companies received large fines from
the courts for environmental offences, totalling
£106,500. Castle Cement Ltd (Mold)
was fined £99,000 and White Moss Horticulture
Ltd (Knowsley) was fined £7,500.
Nuclear
The nuclear industry caused no serious
pollution incidents or serious breaches
last year, and no business was fined £5,000
or more.
The Environment Agency is working together
with the nuclear industry in improving its
environmental performance with the Nuclear
Sector Plan, which sets out voluntary environmental
targets for the industry. In this year’s
Spotlight we’re reporting against these
targets for the first time.
Paper and pulp
A decrease of nine per cent in greenhouse
gases emissions in this sector compared
with 2005.
We rated 52 per cent of sites as band A
for operator environmental performance,
four more than in 2005.
Total waste produced (and transferred off-site)
has also decreased by about nine per cent
since 2005, continuing the gradual downward
trend since 2000.
Waste
The sector released about seven per cent
of greenhouse gases emitted by all sectors
we directly regulate in 2006. About 80 per
cent of this comes from landfills, and most
is methane.
The regulated waste sector had 769 serious
breaches of its permit conditions in 2006,
27 per cent less than in 2005. These breaches
were caused by just 185 businesses. We will
now focus more attention on these businesses
and spend less time checking well-managed
sites.
The sector caused 124 serious pollution
incidents compared to 151 in 2005. This
is the lowest number on record. This improvement
is due to our action against illegal waste
activities as well as better performance
within the sector: serious pollution incidents
caused by the regulated industry were also
down by four, to 80 incidents.
Methane can be burned to produce energy
from waste and 22 petajoules of electricity
supplied to the national grid comes from
the UK waste sector. This amounts to one
and a half per cent of the UK’s total electricity
demand. Burning waste for energy contributes
just over one per cent of GHG releases from
all the sectors we regulate.
Water
The industry is becoming more efficient
with the energy it uses. The amount of electricity
required to supply a megalitre of drinking
water has fallen from 602 kWh in 2002/03
to 586 kWh in 2005/6 and for water treatment
the fall has been ever greater, from 814
kWh to 634 kWh. In the same period the amount
of energy the sector used from renewable
sources rose from six per cent in to 14
per cent.
The demand for tap water remains stable
but climate change, a growing economy and
an increasing population will put water
supply under pressure unless efficiency
improves. In the 2004-06 drought, 16 million
people were affected by hosepipe bans.
By reducing the demand for water, water
companies can avoid making substantial investments
developing new supplies. The sector has
already introduced a wide range of initiatives
to increase water efficiency, such as increased
water metering, tariff trials, water audits,
and retrofitting water saving devices, but
these need to be taken further.
