East Devon firm Axe Skip Hire says the EA is making the waste industry “unfair” and creating conditions that are not a “level playing field” for the regulated sector.
The family-owned company, which has been operating for 40 years, says it has to “jump through hoops” to be able to operate.
This includes complying with multiple regulations, certifications, checks, and audits, which cost thousands of pounds a year.
However, it claims “man and a van” services only need a waste carrier’s licence to operate, with “no training” and “no paper trail.”
Co-owner Karen Bostock said: “Within our sector of the waste industry, we are all feeling like it’s a game of ‘hangman’, with the noose around our necks getting tighter and tighter the more the EA put in regulations, restrictions and costs onto our reputable waste business.”
Karen says that all skip hire firms and waste-carrying businesses with their own sites must have permits to be able to store and sort waste.
Meanwhile, rubbish collected by unregulated operators is being dumped in lay-bys, burned at night, or just left in empty properties and gardens.
Karen says frustrated landlords have called her to supply skips to clear properties which have been rented out and filled with waste from these operations.
Axe Skip Hire is also worried about the restrictions on soil removal from building sites.
The EA insists that soil be removed and taken to a permitted site as “virgin” soil, which can be many miles away.
Karen said: “If a lorry enters our yard, the EA says it becomes ‘treated waste’ and is not ‘virgin’ soil any more.
“Even if it is tipped directly onto our purpose built, self contained soil-only bay.
“For nearly three years we have had our soil tested and no contamination has been found, yet they are insisting it’s ‘treated waste.’
“We look around our local area and see once lovely fields of black Devon soil being filled with thousands of tons of bright orange clay from different counties, but this is apparently acceptable as it’s ‘virgin’ soil.”
An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “Our regulatory work aims to support legitimate waste operators and deal with waste criminals to provide a level playing field for the waste industry.
“The controls that exist are important to ensure that unscrupulous operators do not dispose of higher risk wastes in an illegal manner, causing damage to the landscapes, contaminating land and water and avoiding taxes.”
Read more here: Click Here
