The Environment Agency (EA), sponsored by the United Kingdom’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), would neither confirm nor deny a report from the Guardian newspaper that said the agency was investigating complaints that organised criminals and firms are abusing the plastics recycling regime and waste regulations set by both the United Kingdom and European Union.
The Guardian claims six U.K. exporters of plastic waste have had their licences suspended or cancelled in just the last three months, and a single firm has had 57 containers of plastic waste stopped at U.K. ports in the last three years due to concerns over contamination of waste. In addition, the newspaper says, the EA is investigating false claims for tens of thousands of tonnes of plastic waste that might not exist, asserting that “recycled” plastic waste is being dumped into waterways and the sea and plastic waste is being illegally routed to the Far East via the Netherlands.
