Illegal waste dumps across the Liverpool City Region, including two massive sites in Kirkby and Eastham, have prompted calls for the government to speed up its crackdown on waste crime. The sites have been described as contributing to a “sense of national decline” by a Labour MP.
Earlier this year, investigations established two large illegal waste sites in Kirkby and Eastham. Tens of thousands of tonnes of heavy-duty rubbish were dumped on a field next to the M57 in Kirkby, while land near the M53 on the Wirral was also targeted by flytippers. The Kirkby site, estimated to contain approximately 30,000 tonnes of rubbish, is one of the largest illegal waste dumps ever found, presenting immediate and long-term health, environmental and financial concerns.
Environment Agency Analysis and Government Crackdown
The Environment Agency confirmed it was analysing both locations, with calls for the government to provide the regulator stronger powers to take action. Weeks after coming into office, Prime Minister Andy Burnham announced a crackdown to shut down criminal gangs running illegal waste sites.
At a fringe event during the Labour Party conference on Monday, waste industry officials gave their assessment on how this could help Mr Burnham’s drive to improve community fortunes. Dan Cooke, from the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM), said it was “early days” and acknowledged that criminals involved in piling waste were causing “misery and anxiety” in targeted communities, heightened by the “scale and proliferation” of the activity.
Calls for Stronger Penalties and New Oversight
Mr Cooke added that serious organised criminals were now involved in illegal waste dumping, describing them as “nasty people.” He said authorities tackling the issue “need to know the scale of what they’re dealing with.”
Peter Lamb MP said the increase in illegal waste across the country “gives into the sense of national decline,” adding that “disproportionately heavy penalties” were needed to discourage offenders. Mr Lamb, Labour MP for Crawley, called for better use of technology in the sector and said communities needed to be “more comfortable with the greater level of monitoring if we’re to tackle it.”
Dr Anna Willetts, environmental crime lawyer, told the panel that sentencing guidelines for stronger penalties were in place, but “the issue is they’re not being used.” She said the National Crime Agency, rather than the Environment Agency, should investigate organised crime groups involved in dumps, adding: “These are not a man with a van dumping a mattress, these are nasty people.”
Digital Tracking Proposed as a Solution
Mr Cooke said the scale of dumps found across the country, including in Kirkby, Eastham and in the Prime Minister’s own constituency in Makerfield, had been allowed to grow until they reached “crisis point.” He said the level of criminality had grown in step with the waste piles themselves.
John Scanlon, from the Environmental Services Association, suggested introducing digital waste tracking to prevent piles being left on green spaces, describing this as a “big step forward” in the battle against offenders.
