Environment Agency “Unfair” to Waste Collection Firms

A waste company in Devon is calling for action to be taken against the Environment Agency, accusing it of being “unfair” and not creating a level playing field for the regulated sector of the industry.

Karen Bostock, Co Owner of Axe Skip Hire in Kilmington, said: ”Within our sector of the waste industry we are all feeling like it’s a game of ‘hangman’, with the noose around our necks getting tighter and tighter the more the EA put in regulations, restrictions and costs onto our reputable waste business.

“It’s my belief that thanks to the EA, the waste industry is unfair and it’s not a level playing field.”

The family owned company, which has been running for 40 years, says it has to “jump through hoops” to be able to operate. This includes complying with multiple regulations, certifications and checks. However a “man and a van” needs to only apply for a Waste Carrier’s Licence to be able to start operating in the same sphere - with no training and no paper trail.

Karen said: “Picture this and tell me this is fair? A man and a van service can remove any of your unwanted house contents. Literally anything and everything can go, including asbestos, all in one load. But you cannot put fridges, freezers, TVs or soft furnishings into a skip as it might contaminate the load!”

All skip hire firms and waste carrying businesses with their own sites must have the following permits to be able to store and sort waste:

• Continued Competence Certificate Licence to deal with non hazardous waste.

• Waste Carrier’s Licence to be able to collect it.

• Transport Operator’s Licence for the lorries.

• Various other qualifications and training to handle, sort and dispose of the waste. 

Compliance costs thousands of pounds per year. On top of this, businesses must have regular audits from the EA and must account for every bit of waste that comes in and out of their yards. They need to make quarterly returns to the EA and tally up job sheets and tickets.

Meanwhile rubbish collected by unregulated operators is being dumped in lay-bys, burned at night or just left in empty properties and gardens. Karen says frustrated landlords have called her to supply skips to clear properties which have been rented out and filled with waste from these operations. 

“It seems they only have to produce a couple of tickets from a local tip to cover their movements. No training, no permits, no audits, no regulations, no paper trail or records. Driving, walking or riding around the countryside is becoming more and more disheartening, when you see piles of someone’s waste just tipped: fridges, freezers and sofas left in lay-bys and hedges. Probably from someone who has been paid to take it away to a co called ‘safe and proper’ disposal site.

“This has to change and we would welcome the employees from the EA, who sit in their office making all these regulations, to come and see our reality on the ground.”

For Axe Skip Hire another concern is the removal of soil on building sites, which it says is being over regulated by EA, resulting in dirt travelling long distances to be placed somewhere unsuitable to the local environment. The EA insists soil be removed and taken to a permitted site as “virgin” soil. This can be many miles away.

Karen said: “If a lorry enters our yard, the EA says it becomes ‘treated waste’ and is not ‘virgin’ soil any more. Even if it is tipped directly onto our purpose built, self contained soil-only bay. For nearly three years we have had our soil tested and no contamination has been found, yet they are insisting it’s ‘treated waste’. And guess what - at more great expense to us with testing, storing and disposing of the soil.

“We look around our local area and see once lovely fields of black Devon soil being filled with thousands of tons of bright orange clay from different counties, but this is apparently acceptable as it’s ‘virgin’ soil. 

"Whilst we fully appreciate protecting the environment and countryside, it has to be workable and practical. Rather than punishing the waste companies for trying to dispose of excess packaging and obsolete products, why not target wasteful producers in the first place?

“It seems like the EA holds all the cards and because of their own inefficiency, lack of previous monitoring, vast overfilling and pollution over the years we are now going to another extreme.”

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