FIRST PERSON
create, and handle packaging must help fund the recycling of packaging waste by purchasing recycling credits - Packaging Waste Recycling Notes (PRNs) from UK recyclers and waste exporters. PRN prices fluctuate due to supply and demand and other market factors.
There has been an increase in attention of unscrupulous companies who know there is a considerable amount of money to be made from PRNs and have identified ways to exploit the system for their own financial gain. In 2023, the annual PRN market was estimated to be £596 million, with an approximate fraud and error rate of 20 per cent (£119 million). We have identified that much of the fraudulent activity occurs from the sale of plastic PRNs, leading to a focus on plastic waste exporters. Recyclers and exporters made £306 million in 2023 from the sale of plastic PRNs. We have identified large PRN claims on fictious waste, for example, no waste existed, was exported, or recycled and the paperwork was forged. We often find a significant number of companies have just been set up to commit the fraud
and move on the gains. It is important to remember we are all the victims of this crime. Companies can add on the cost of PRNs to their costs which in turn raises prices. Legitimate companies struggle to compete and can find themselves in financial difficulties. Our teams of skilled investigators –
“Our teams of skilled investigators – many being ex-police, money laundering experts, financial investigators and dedicated data teams, are all an intrinsic part of our robust response to prevent irreparable damage to the regimes we regulate.“
many being ex-police, money laundering experts, financial investigators and dedicated data teams, are all an intrinsic part of our robust response to prevent irreparable damage to the regimes we regulate. Everyone has a part to play, but as criminals dynamically evolve, so must we. As a regulator we do have substantive powers to enter premises involved in the waste trade and look where possible to execute these powers without police involvement. However, on occasion that
is not possible, and we do approach the police for assistance. In the past 12 months we have worked closely with various police forces including South and West Yorkshire, West Mercia, Greater Manchester, West Midlands and Norfolk Constabulary alongside the ever-helpful ROCUs. We are usually requesting the police to exercise their powers of arrest and/or assistance in the execution of a warrant. The good news for officers is that where other offences aren’t identified the Environment Agency take on the suspected fraud in its entirety.
It is estimated that only 25 per cent
of waste crime incidents are reported to the Environment Agency. If you know or suspect illegal waste activity is taking place, please liaise with your force’s intelligence teams to disseminate this intelligence to the Environment Agency.
If you have any information specific to or questions relating to PRN fraud, you can email us at: proresinvestigationteam@
environment-agency.gov.uk
35 | POLICE | APRIL | 2025
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