News

13th April 2005

Bowis highlights scandal of UK illegal waste shipments

Conservative MEP warns British Government to clean up its act.

Thousands of tonnes of waste are being shipped illegally from the United Kingdom to developing countries like China and Indonesia and the British Government's inaction is simply encouraging these scandalous exports, Conservative Health Spokesman in the European Parliament, John Bowis MEP, said today.

Mr Bowis' comments came after he received a written response from the European Commission to a question he asked about Commission efforts to enforce EU law on waste shipment and disposal. The Commission's response recognised such shipments as a growing problem and raised the prospect of taking the British Government to court unless it falls into line on implementing the law.

Mr Bowis' question highlighted a recent case in which 1,000 tonnes of contaminated household refuse, disguised as waste paper, was intercepted in Rotterdam en route from Britain to China. The cost of sending a container of waste from Britain to China is cheaper than the cost of sending a container from London to Birmingham because of high landfill and recycling costs in the EU.

Mr Bowis said: "The British Government should be ashamed of its abject failure to confront the issue of illegal waste shipments. This problem has arisen because the Government's facilities for monitoring and inspection of waste shipments are completely inadequate.

"There is also an urgent need for clearer guidelines on waste categories. Companies are able to bend the rules, or simply ignore them because they know it's unlikely they'll be caught.

"Increasing Britain's recycling capacity would make inroads into this problem and would strengthen the so-called 'proximity principle', whereby waste is dealt with as close to its source as possible.

"I hope ministers in the UK wake up to the fact that their inaction is not going unnoticed. If they don't get to grips with this problem, they should not be surprised if the commission takes action against them."