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<p>We want to promote UK-based recycling and export less waste to be processed abroad.
We want to tighten controls over the waste which we do export. We are looking at a
suite of measures including increasing monitoring of international waste shipments
and charging higher fees to improve compliance. We set out these ideas in the Resources
and Waste Strategy at the end of last year and will publish detailed plans soon.</p><p>
</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The UK is a Party to the United Nations Basel Convention on
the Control of Transboundary Movements of Hazardous Wastes and Their Disposal. The
Convention provides a global system for controlling the export of hazardous wastes
and wastes collected from households. The requirements of the Basel Convention have
been implemented in UK law by the EU Waste Shipment Regulations (Regulation (EC) 1013/2006)
and the UK Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>
</p><p>The EU Waste Shipment Regulations impose strict conditions on the types of
waste that can be exported, and set out procedures that waste exporters must follow.
They prohibit the export from the EU of waste for disposal to a country outside the
European Free Trade Area (EFTA). Regulation 21 of the UK Transfrontier Shipment of
Waste Regulations make it an offence to transport waste destined for disposal to countries
outside the EFTA.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The legislation also requires that
those involved in the shipment of waste take all necessary steps to ensure waste is
managed in an environmentally sound manner throughout its shipment and at the waste
management facility in the country of destination.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The
UK has a robust approach to enforcing these controls. In 2017 the Environment Agency
(EA) inspected more than 1,000 shipping containers and returned 367 of these to their
site of loading. The EA stopped over 7,000 tonnes of waste at ports and prevented
nearly 9,000 tonnes of waste from reaching ports.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p>The
EA takes a proactive, intelligence-led approach to ensure it targets shipments that
pose a high risk of non-compliance. The EA’s use of Stop Notices has proved to be
an effective tool in prohibiting illegal waste shipments from being exported. After
exports are stopped, the costs associated with returning a waste shipment that is
found to be unfit for export to the site of origin for further treatment can be a
significant cost to the exporter. This has been sufficient to educate and deter further
illegal waste exports without the need for additional sanctions.</p><p> </p>
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