Earlier this week, the Environment Agency, the police, the Road Haulage Association, the Association of British Insurers, the Vehicle & Operator Service Agency and Crime stoppers joined forces to crack down on waste crime.
The main aim of the meeting was to disrupt the supply of waste to illegal waste sites, gather intelligence and encourage people to report waste crime.
Environment Agency officers set up stop and search blockades and are visiting waste sites. Of the 1175 illegal waste sites known to the Environment Agency at the end of March 2012 the largest number were for construction and demolition waste (32%).
There were a significant number of sites involving mixed household or commercial waste (23%) and scrap vehicles and vehicle parts (22%).
139 formal cautions relating to waste crime in 2011-2012 have been issued by the Environment Agency; almost 300 successful prosecutions resulted in total fines of £1.6m, with the highest fine being for £100,000.
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