{"id":1031,"date":"2026-05-14T09:15:25","date_gmt":"2026-05-14T09:15:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/businesssinglesmeet.com\/?p=1031"},"modified":"2026-05-19T15:53:39","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T15:53:39","slug":"oep-finds-significant-weaknesses-in-regulation-of-waste-sites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/businesssinglesmeet.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/14\/oep-finds-significant-weaknesses-in-regulation-of-waste-sites\/","title":{"rendered":"OEP finds \u2018significant weaknesses\u2019 in regulation of waste sites"},"content":{"rendered":"
\u00a0<\/div>\n

\"Environment<\/h4>\n

There are \u2018significant weaknesses\u2019 in the Environment Agency\u2019s inspections of waste operations and installations, Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) report finds.<\/h4>\n

The report by the public oversight body for environmental protection in England and Northern Ireland is based on a review of Environment Agency (EA) inspections from 2018 to 2022, which are the most recent available.<\/p>\n

It found that many inspections carried out during the period were of \u2018poor quality\u2019, and in around one third of cases, policy guidance was not followed.<\/p>\n

The report identified \u2018significant weaknesses\u2019 in the effectiveness, consistency and oversight of the inspection regime for waste operations and installations in England.<\/p>\n

Julie Hill, interim\u00a0Chair of the OEP, said the report concludes that\u00a0while the system was designed\u00a0in good faith,\u00a0it is \u2018no longer working\u00a0effectively\u2019, and\u00a0is \u2018not sufficiently focused\u2019 on\u00a0environmental outcomes.<\/p>\n

One of the report\u2019s key findings relates to the EA\u2019s Key Performance Indicator (KPI) that all 97% of sites should be compliant with their permit and rated in the bands \u2018A\u2019, \u2018B\u2019 or \u2018C\u2019. The performance of facilities is rated by the\u00a0EA\u00a0on a scale of \u2018A\u2019 to \u2018F\u2019.<\/p>\n

The KPI target has always been met by the EA. However, this figure automatically includes sites that have not been inspected in the reporting period as still being rated in \u2018A\u2019, the highest possible band.<\/p>\n

The EA also counts band \u2018C\u2019 sites as being compliant for the KPI, despite the EA\u2019s own guidance saying they \u2018must improve\u2019 to achieve permit compliance.<\/p>\n

The report found that, given its current\u00a0compliance recording\u00a0practices, the EA can only be confident that around 64% of its sites are compliant.<\/p>\n

An Environment Agency spokesperson said the report is based on \u2018historic data\u2019 and claimed that the regulator had already put in place \u2018stronger insight and clearer outcomes\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are cracking down on persistent poor performers by being more consistent through stronger enforcement, utilising data and intelligence to spot non-compliance earlier, and targeting our officers to where they are needed most,\u201d the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will consider the OEP\u2019s recommendations to support our future regulatory improvements, which includes focusing inspections at the highest risk sites.\u201d<\/p>\n

The OEP makes\u00a0several\u00a0recommendations that include adopting better performance indicators\u00a0that reflect compliance, replacing\u00a0flawed metrics, and presenting data more transparently.<\/p>\n

The report also calls for a \u2018fundamental redesign\u2019\u00a0of the compliance system so it aligns legal duties, policy, planning and on-the-ground inspection work.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of the final recommendations is for the EA to implement more \u2018outcome-focused inspections\u2019, with clearer actions, consistent root\u00a0cause analysis, and stronger training and oversight of inspectors.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The\u00a0OEP Interim Chair continued: \u201cThe Environment Agency has a critical and challenging\u00a0role, and we recognise\u00a0that work is\u00a0already\u00a0underway to address issues raised in this report.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis report is intended to support that progress by\u00a0providing an independent assessment of\u00a0where changes would have the greatest impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

The post OEP finds \u2018significant weaknesses\u2019 in regulation of waste sites<\/a> appeared first on Circular Online<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 There are \u2018significant weaknesses\u2019 in the Environment Agency\u2019s inspections of waste operations and installations, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/businesssinglesmeet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1031"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/businesssinglesmeet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/businesssinglesmeet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/businesssinglesmeet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/businesssinglesmeet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1031"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/businesssinglesmeet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1031\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1032,"href":"http:\/\/businesssinglesmeet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1031\/revisions\/1032"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/businesssinglesmeet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/businesssinglesmeet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/businesssinglesmeet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/businesssinglesmeet.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}