Alix
Bell - 20-Sep-2006 - The Environment Agency and
Preston City Council are applying a ‘zero-tolerance’
approach to small and microsized businesses who
don’t dispose of their waste properly.
Over the next month, there will
be three campaigns, each targeting 80 businesses
in the Preston area. Staff from both the Environment
Agency and the council will be checking businesses’
waste storage facilities and ensuring that any
waste is removed by authorised waste carriers.
The aim of the campaign is to
stop the market for illegal waste carriers and
fly-tippers by educating businesses that they
are legally responsible for the removal of any
waste.
New figures show that, somewhere
in England, rubbish is illegally dumped every
35 seconds and costs local authorities and the
Environment Agency around £100 a minute
to clean up.
More than 40,000 tonnes of commercial
waste were dumped in Preston during 2004. Preston
was a pilot area for Defra’s Business Resource
Efficiency and Waste programme (BREW) in 2005/06
and the Environment Agency is now implementing
its continuity plan for the area.
Tony Dean, Regional Director
of Environment Agency North West, said: "’Make
waste your business – before we make it ours’
is the theme of the campaign and we want to work
with businesses to help them understand the various
waste disposal options. Advice is available to
help them minimise the amount of waste they produce,
which has cost benefits for them and we want to
make sure they understand their legal duty to
dispose of waste responsibly.
"The campaign tackles fly-tipping
all the way down the waste chain – from businesses
that flout the law and turn a blind eye to where
their rubbish goes, to the unscrupulous tippers
who charge for rubbish removal and then profit
from dumping it illegally."
Anyone commissioning someone
to dispose of their waste including household
waste could also face hefty fines of up to £5,000
if the person is not registered to dispose of
waste. People can now check that their waste carriers
are legally registered by log on to: www.environment-agency.gov.uk/publicregister
Environment Officers and
Enforcement Officers from Preston City Council
will visit the first 80 businesses in the Plungington
area on Tuesday 19 September 2006 and Wednesday
20 September 2006.
