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Waste Regulator Only Has Half The Resources It Needs To Do Its Job
2 June 1997
An internal Environment Agency report [attached] leaked to Friends of the Earth has revealed that the Agency only has half the resources it needs to carry out its waste regulation functions. Friends of the Earth are calling upon Michael Meacher (Minister for the Environment) to provide the Agency with extra funds by increasing charges for waste management licences.
The report states that, even with extra staff: "the Agency will only be able to deliver some 50% of the minimum number of inspections required in the statutory guidance and much reduced performance across the whole field of waste regulation". Friends of the Earth are concerned that this lack of resources will prove to be a green light for cowboy landfill operators and waste transport companies, threatening both the public and the environment.
Mike Childs, Senior Waste Campaigner at Friends of the Earth said:
"Clearly the Agency needs more resources urgently, the Government must ensure that they get them, ideally through increasing charges for waste management licences. It is in everyone's best interest that we have a tough and well resourced regulator, otherwise waste cowboys will flourish and the public,the environment and responsible waste management companies will suffer."
Friends of the Earth is inviting trade unions, local authorities and responsible waste management companies to join it in calling upon the Government to ensure that the Agency has more resources.
ENDS
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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust
Last modified: Dec 2008
