New taskforce formed to tackle waste crime in the UK

The Waste Compliance Taskforce will gather intelligence about waste crime and use it to design interventions aimed at tackling the issue

A new cross-sector taskforce aimed at tackling waste crime in the UK has been launched.

The Waste Compliance Taskforce (WACT) comprises of a number of organisations from across the public and private sectors, including regulators, trade associations, landowners, businesses and charities.

It aims to raise awareness of waste crime and work towards combatting it by helping businesses and other organisations to be compliant, through a number of working groups.

The WACT will gather intelligence about waste crime and use it to design interventions aimed at tackling the issue as well as share the information to influence policy and legislative changes.

Stuart Foster, CEO of plastics charity RECOUP and Chair of WACT said: “Waste crime is the scourge of our industry. It’s estimated that it costs the UK economy around £1 billion a year but it also potentially puts lives at risk and erodes the public’s trust in the waste and recycling sector.

“It’s crucial that we all come together now to tackle this from every angle so that the organised criminals who are making money out of illegal activities involving the UK’s waste are stopped once and for all.”

The taskforce’s remit is separate to that of the Joint Unit for Waste Crime (JUWC) launched by the government earlier this year as part of its Resources and Waste Strategy.

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