LAWR

WASTE CRIME ANALYSIS We've all heard about football bungs but it is rare to hear the term used in relation to the waste industry. A recent survey published by BusinessWaste.co.uk caused a stir last month when it claimed that a tiny proportion of companies were 'bribing' council waste operatives to treat their commercial waste as household waste. Liz Gyekye finds out if waste crime is on the rise? ommercial waste firm BusinessWaste. co.uk carried out an anonymous survey and claimed that a small but significant number of companies were negotiating deals at their "back doors" in order to save substantial sums on their waste removal for as little as a few drinks down the pub. BusinessWaste.co.uk spokesman Mark Hall says: "In tough financial times, some business owners are cutting corners on their budgets and if they find an illicit way to have commercial or bulky waste taken away for next to nothing, they'll certainly take advantage of it." In a strictly confidential survey of 4,500 UK-based businesses, just over 1% admitted to disposing of their waste through illicit means. Among the common excuses were: "We took commercial waste home and put it in our domestic bins and we paid the bin man a tenner to remove loads of bulky waste." Speaking to LAWR, Hall says that businesses should be named and shamed if they are caught paying bin men "bungs" to remove their commercial waste and treat it as household waste. He adds: "The threat should be on the business. They should be audited and ranked on the waste they dispose of. The public will end up dealing only with ethical companies rather than those who don't give two craps about the environment." LAWR understands that the majority of commercial waste is collected by private waste contractors and not local authorities. Industry expert Peter Jones says that local authorities tended to back out of commercial arisings five years ago because they often lacked the information technology to invoice rising gate fees. The majority of their accounts were fruit and vegetable markets, general markets and small to medium-sized high street retailers. However, Hall has urged councils to crack down on alleged waste crime. So, what are local authorities doing to prevent these alleged practices? LARAC chair Andrew Bird says that local authorities take issues around fraud very seriously, and what is being described is fraud. He adds: "Unfortunately, a small number of businesses and people will always try to avoid having to correctly dispose of their waste in an attempt to save costs, or because they feel waste is someone else's problem. C March 2014 Local Authority Waste & Recycling 19 Stamping down on bin man 'bribery'

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