NEWS
Six illegal sites found during a day of action by Environment Agency enforcement teams across Thames Valley
Environment Agency enforcement teams visited 21 sites across the Thames Valley in a bid to stamp out waste crime.
Enforcement officers paid unannounced visits to sites suspected of operating in the waste business without the required environmental permits – flouting the law and committing a crime.
Of the 21 sites visited, 6 were found to be
operating illegally, while a number of other sites had responded to previous advice from the Environment Agency Officers and stopped their illegal activities. Illegal waste sites pose a threat to the
environment by contaminating land and rivers with oil and chemicals. Illegal waste operators also undermine the work of legitimate waste companies, creating an unfair playing field for business. Huge sums of
money can be made by illegally stockpiling, burning and burying waste instead of paying for lawful disposal, blighting communities with smoke fumes and causing noise and odour.
Helen Page, Enforcement Team Leader at
the Environment Agency said: “We take waste crime very seriously. Visits on a day of action are just one of the ways we are tackling illegal waste sites. “We continually use reports from industry
and the public to build intelligence and target our work at those involved in organised environmental crime, and where their activities pose the greatest risk to the environment. “We are really pleased with what we have
achieved today. The information we have gathered will be used in our ongoing work to close more sites down and protect local communities.” Helen added: “Everyone can do their bit to
reduce waste crime by making sure that any waste for disposal is collected by a licenced waste carrier and taken to a properly permitted, legitimate waste site. Ultimately, we want to make sure the right waste goes to the right place.”
Inventor launches low-cost solution to prevent fires in material stockpiles
Fire at waste and recycling sites is a huge problem for the industry and has prompted the Environment Agency to issue tough new requirements for site operators.
A new solution has been launched which monitors rising temperatures in stockpiles, allowing operators to act before the material ignites. Kent-based company Soil & Land
Inventor Dr Eric Crouch
Consultants Ltd have now launched PREVENTiT as a new, easy-to-use, low-cost fire prevention solution for the waste and recycling industry. On average, a fire breaks out at a UK waste
management site almost every day of the year. It’s not usually arson or human error that causes the fire. The most common cause is spontaneous combustion – heat generated within the stockpile builds up and ignites. For the past 12 months, a research and
development project led by inventor Dr Eric Crouch has been under way at a major biomass recycling site, to investigate the
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problem and create a solution. The result is PREVENTiT, a new
easy-to-use fire prevention solution designed for the waste and recycling industry. PREVENTiT consists of a disposable
sensor cable which is laid across material at various stages as the pile grows in height. The sensors in the cable monitor temperatures in the stockpile, and real-time information is then transmitted wirelessly from the monitoring unit to a PC. When any area of the pile approaches
dangerous temperatures, the alarm activates so operators know exactly when to rotate or move stock to prevent the risk of fire.
SHM December 2016 Issue 132 “The challenge in developing a solution lay
in identifying where and when a fire is about to start. Because spontaneous combustion happens randomly within the stockpile, by the time you detect smoke externally, it is often already too late,” explained Dr Crouch. “That’s why the sensor cable was developed.
It is laid throughout the stockpile to provide temperature information at numerous locations. Probes simply can’t provide enough detail and are difficult to insert deep into the piles.” “Until now, site operators simply didn’t
know whether and when a fire was likely to break out in a stockpile. With PREVENTiT, they have the information they need to respond before a fire starts.”
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