Waste sent to Poland for recycling ends up burnt by ‘trash mafia’
BRITISH waste disposal companies have become embroiled in an international criminal investigation into fake recycling, The Daily Telegraph can disclose.
Three companies that send domestic rubbish to Poland are being questioned by the Environment Agency over alleged illegal dumping. They cannot be named as the investigation continues.
Polish authorities say government inspectors seized more than 1,000 tons of British waste falsely labelled as recyclable plastic. There are growing concerns that British households, which can face fines for failing to sort refuse into different bins, may be wasting their time trying to recycle.
Earlier this year, China banned the import of plastic waste and British firms began to look elsewhere in eastern Europe and Asia. Inspectors at the Polish port of Gdynia claim they caught six British firms trying to smuggle 45 containers of supposed plastic waste.
But when opened, officials discovered boxes, tins, detergent packaging and engine oil. The seized waste was destined for two Polish recycling plants. But it is suspected that the contents were intended for burning or to be placed in landfill by what the Polish government described as a “trash mafia”.
The raid marks the latest step by Polish authorities to crack down on criminals who are accused of burning waste instead of recycling it.
The group has been linked to more than 70 fires in rubbish dumps, where foreign waste has been dumped and set alight, allowing rogue traders to pocket millions in Polish currency.
The Telegraph revealed in July that the largest fire, in the town of Zgierz, contained tons of plastic waste from UK households and
supermarkets. Mateusz Morawiecki, Poland’s prime minister, threatened a total ban on waste imports, including UK plastics, until the system could be made fit for purpose.
Britain exports 800,000 tons of plastic waste annually, with 12,000 tons going to Poland. Experts claimed it showed the UK system was “fundamentally broken” and vulnerable to fraud.
“Containers stopped by us during the operation were not accompanied by required and necessary permits,” Barbara Szalińska, a local official, said.
“Our customs officers are continually controlling container turnover in Polish ports, but we have never noticed this type of product in such quantity.”
In the UK, those caught falsely labelling waste risk face fines and jail. But waste disposal experts and the National Audit Office accused the Environment Agency of failing to inspect shipments to ensure waste was properly disposed of once it left the country.
“We simply don’t know how much waste sent abroad is actually being recycled,” said Dr Dominic Hogg, chairman and founder of waste consultancy Eunomia. “It is difficult to know for sure how widespread the problem is, but based on what we know, there are not enough inspections carried out and that can lead to fraudulent behaviour.”
In a report last month, the National Audit Office said it was “concerned” that the Environment Agency “does not have strong enough controls” to prevent waste disposal fraud, and warned of “low visibility and control over waste that is sold for recycling abroad”.
Though the Government says it is hitting recycling targets, experts point out that exported waste is included in the figures, despite there being no guarantee the waste is being recycled.
For their part, Polish campaigners say the country is ill-equipped to deal with its own domestic recycling, let alone the sheer volume of waste exported by Western countries such as Britain and Germany.
China’s announcement of a ban on the import of plastic waste has exacerbated the problem, with the tide turning towards Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam, as well as Poland.
Public awareness has been raised by television programmes such as Blue Planet II and Michael Gove’s initiatives to ban plastic straws and recycle more of the 13 billion plastic bottles used by the British public every year.
An Environment Agency spokesman said: “We have a strong track record of using enforcement to bring businesses back into compliance. Since 2011, we have brought 258 businesses into compliance by using civil sanctions, which has resulted in a combined financial payment of over £5 million to environmental causes.
“Where we find any evidence of fraud or error in data reported to us, we remove that information from the overall packaging recycling data and calculations.”
A spokesman for the Department for Food, Environmental and Rural Affairs said: “Waste and recycling must be properly managed, whether it is processed at home or abroad.
“We work closely with the waste industry, Environment Agency and local authorities to safeguard the environment and crack down on rogue operators who try to play the system.”