Kent police commissioner issues warning as criminals pose as waste collectors
Waste crime is a "billion pound problem" in the UK
The Kent police commissioner is urging people to be wary of criminals posing as waste collectors, as 35% of waste crime is believed to be carried out by organised crime groups.
On the more minor end, waste crime includes acts such as fly-tipping.
But Kent PFCC, Matthew Scott, tells Greatest Hits Radio the problem spans to "large, industrial scale operations", including illegal mass waste dumping and incineration.
Mr Scott says the consequences of large-scale dumping in Kent have been "generational" for wildlife, particularly in Hoad's Wood near Ashford, a site of Special Scientific Interest which saw 30,000 tonnes of "harmful" waste dumped in June.
The clean-up operation is expected to cost up to £15 million and last a year, according to the Environment Agency.
Dr Anna Willetts, co-convener of the UK Environmental Law Association Waste Working Party, has told an Inquiry this week that waste crime gives criminals "the ability to make money fast".
The Inquiry held in Westminster on 10 September heard criminal groups are posing as "legitimate waste collection organisations" to avoid landfill taxes.
Mr Scott told the Inquiry: "Criminals will pick up waste from households or construction sites to take to landfill, but on their way they will take it to an illegal site in order to avoid the landfill taxes.
Advice to Kent residents
"As householders I'd always check where the intended destination is of the waste and make sure that the collectors are registered as waste carriers" Mr Scott told Greatest Hits Radio.
He added there is "very little" by way of deterrent:
"For fly-tipping for example there are fixed penalty notices for a few hundred pounds.
"It is possible to levy unlimited funds in some circumstances and custodial sentences however so few cases make it to court that the deterrent is not there.
"We're working with Police, the Environment Agency, local councils, and the Driver and Vehicles Standards Agency (DVSA) on destruction.
"We're trying to stop the waste from getting to the illegal site in the first place, and catch them before they even tip it.
"That's the best thing we can do at the moment whilst we try and work through the prosecutions.
On 10 September, the short waste crime Inquiry heard from law and criminal justice experts.
It will next sit on 17 September, hearing evidence from the Environment Agency, a fraud investigation officer at HMRC, and representatives of the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).