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Date: April 30, 2024 Tue
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Results for waste tracking
2 results foundAuthor: Bryson, Ian Title: Action D2: Progress on Technical Actions Summary: LIFE SMART Waste is a multi-agency project co-funded by the EU LIFE programme. It aims to develop and demonstrate innovative ways of understanding, tackling and reducing waste-related crime. The project is led by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency working in partnership with three co-beneficiaries: Natural Resources Wales; ACR+; and Brussels Environment. A proposal to extend the project (originally scheduled to run from June 2014 until May 2019) by one-year is currently being considered by the European Commission. Collaboration is key to the LIFE SMART Waste project's innovative approach. At the outset, the project considered barriers to joint working and recommended that agencies adopt an amended version of INTERPOL's NEST approach to optimise their collaborative activity. A communications 'Hub' was developed and piloted to provide a web-based platform for agencies and expert groups to collaborate and share non-sensitive information in virtual communities. As a supplement to the Hub's capabilities, the potential for using an online platform to share Official (Sensitive) intelligence between national agencies, initially within the UK, is currently being assessed. LIFE SMART Waste has been researching, developing and piloting a range of analytical tools, approaches and techniques. The aim is that these could enable environmental regulators to identify and tackle the issues which facilitate criminality. To date: - A Competitive Behaviours Toolkit has been developed, providing a collection of core tools to help with the analysis of information from diverse sources and achieve a better understanding of market and/or industry behaviours. - A Horizon Scanning Toolkit, to help build an early warning system for emerging waste sector developments and their potential for criminal enterprise, has been piloted. - Waste flow audit approaches that could potentially identify illegal disposal activity were investigated (but will not be piloted due to a lack of robust information and evidence of regulatory resource limitations). - A Waste Crime Indicators Toolkit has been developed, to provide practical indicators of waste crime using simple analysis of waste operator data. - A Financial Risk Assessment Tool, to help identify those operators and activities that need to be subject to a more detailed appraisal as part of the permitting process, has been developed. - Waste flow tracking devices with the potential to identify illegal disposal activity were investigated (but will not be piloted in a live UK deployment, in acknowledgement of legal and expert advice received). - Remote Sensing techniques, to help in the detection of both unknown (illegal) waste sites and different waste types, are being assessed in two independent pilot studies. - An Intervention Design Manual, to provide a framework for choosing and designing collaborative interventions, has been piloted in the project's intervention bundles. To conclude development, the project is planning to test the Competitive Behaviours Toolkit, Waste Crime Indicators Toolkit and Financial Risk Assessment Tool. Further pilots are being planned by SEPA with support from partner agencies in the UK and other EU Member States. A key LIFE SMART Waste project goal is to set up cross-agency intervention groups to design three intelligence-led interventions that use the project's insights and tools. To inform these interventions, and to fill intelligence gaps, the project has undertaken a range of investigations and prepared four intelligence reports: - A survey of the Waste industry in Scotland provided baseline perceptions of the scale and causes of waste crime; - A review of SEPA and NRW waste intelligence for 2015-2016 helped to identify priorities for intervention and investigation, including the exploitation of unregulated rented warehousing units and use of waste hauliers for illegal activities; - A study of Scotland's waste tyre sector identified a range of 'vulnerabilities' and recommended possible measures to combat them; - An intelligence report provided an assessment of waste hauliers' involvement in (UK) cross-border transportation and depositing of waste at illegal sites; - A vulnerability study provided a better understanding of the role of brokers operating within the waste management industry; - In the wake of China's ban on foreign waste imports commencing in 2018, and as an adjunct to the project, LIFE SMART Waste is currently working with INTERPOL to scope a research study to better understand the threat of waste crime arising as a result of the ban. In consultation with cross-agency intervention groups, LIFE SMART Waste delivered two of the project's three intelligence-led interventions in 2018, using project insights and tools: i. The illegal waste warehousing intervention featuring an educational campaign in collaboration with Crimestoppers (Scotland) and a range of partner organisations to highlight the exploitation of unregulated rented warehousing units for illegal waste storage. ii. The illegal waste haulage intervention highlighted the consequences of waste hauliers' involvement in illegal movements of waste (within the UK) through high-profile multi-agency road check points, site visits and a 'Drive out waste crime' awareness-raising campaign supported by key industry bodies. The project's third intervention will focus on illegal waste brokerage. This is currently being designed in collaboration with industry experts, using the Intervention Design Manual, with the aim of practically addressing key vulnerabilities that affect the brokerage of waste. At the conclusion of the project, LIFE SMART Waste aims to make recommendations for policy and legislative changes to help tackle waste crime related to challenging waste streams. To date, the project's work has provided early indications of possible recommendations for policy and legislative interventions. These include, for example, granting additional powers to environmental regulators in the UK to facilitate the use of waste tracking devices and for intelligence gathering. Details: Stirling, Scotland: Scottish Environment Protection Agency, 2019. 29p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 8, 2019 at: https://www.sepa.org.uk/media/427764/lsw-industry-representative-report_v10.pdf Year: 2019 Country: Europe URL: https://www.sepa.org.uk/regulations/waste/life-smart-waste/publications/ Shelf Number: 156260 Keywords: Environmental Crime Illegal Dumping Illegal Waste Storage Illegally Disposed Waste Remote Sensing Risk Assessment Scotland Waste Management Waste Sites Waste Tracking |
Author: Cranfield University Title: Action B4: Horizon Scanning - Phase 1 (Research): Literature Review Summary: SEPA has commissioned Cranfield University to develop a horizon scanning and predictive analysis tool to build their understanding of how current and future changes in the market, in technology and in the legislative environment can influence waste crime and affect criminal behaviours. This report presents the output from Phase 1, a desk-top review of the academic and grey literature, which focused on the specific context of horizon scanning applications to identify the salient features and success factors for their adoption in an environmental regulatory context. The review provides insights on the organisational approaches and design principles for scanning systems, and reflects on the generic and specific challenges that environmental regulators are likely to face as they seek to develop and implement such as system. An early warning system for waste crime: One key element of an effective early warning system for detecting waste crime is horizon scanning - the systematic and intelligence-led gathering of high-level information about current and future changes influencing waste crime and criminal behaviours. Some information collected through horizon scanning may relate to established patterns of crime (e.g. non-compliance with existing permits) and some may relate to surprise elements or blind spots, that reveal new criminal activity or behaviour (e.g. new market-related opportunities for crime). Making sense of this information requires a range of analytical tools - such as predictive analysis - to assess current patterns of criminal activity and to anticipate future developments of this pattern. Design principles for a horizon scanning system The Report identifies some key design principles for a horizon scanning system and poses important design questions regarding implementation in an environmental regulatory context. These questions are set out below and will inform design of the early warning system (Phase 2). Scanning function Scanning for warning signals can be exploratory or issue-focused depending on the context and information needs of the organisation, and the time and other resources available. - Should the scanning be exploratory, looking for indicators of crime at a macro level (i.e. across whole supply chain operations)? - Should the scanning be issue-focused, looking to fill analytical gaps by examining indicators of crime at a micro level (i.e. in a particular problematic area or regarding a problematic waste stream). - If both types of scans are desirable, what is the right balance between the two? - What is the right time horizon for the scanning function (e.g. 5, 10+ years?)Scanning team The selection of the scanning team is influenced by the complexity of the problem space and the wider political and operational context, the purpose of the scans and their intended enduse. - Does the complexity of the problem space require collaboration between departments or broader inter-agency collaborations? - Is there appropriate in-house capacity/capability and resources to support the scanning function? - What measures are needed to ensure scanners (and other users) understand the toolkit, and have sufficient time to provide material in the correct format? Assessment and data synthesis: A systematic process for collecting and evaluating content needs agreed standards and protocols for searching and for updating information. It also needs meaningful evaluation of scan data against agreed metrics so that outputs are relevant to organisational priorities/policies. - What protocols will be put in place to guide searches and ensure information collected is relevant and up-to-date? - How should scans be assessed to ensure they are systematic, consistent and meaningful? How can system design ensure scans capture the 'big picture' issues (e.g. fallout from Brexit) and set out implications for specific sectors (e.g. regulation of waste; supply chain operations)? - How will adjustments and updates be made (in light of, for example single significant events), so that individual scans are not rendered redundant? Communication and influence: Communication of horizon scanning outputs to environmental regulators should emphasise the breadth of information (issues across the supply chain), depth of information (sector-specific implications) and supporting evidence to encourage fast action on emerging crime problems. To optimise action, scanning outputs should ideally feed directly into planning and regulatory processes (e.g. Compliance assessments, Duty of Care Code of Practice). - How often should scanning outputs be produced (e.g. quarterly, biannually, annual)? - What should the format be? Should scanning outputs align directly with organisational priorities and/or broader goals/objectives/What is the best format for scanning outputs to ensure they are easily accessible to decision-makers and other end-users? Visibility: There are challenges around ensuring any horizon scanning tool is visible in the organisation. Visibility can be increased by active promotion (perhaps by a scanning champion) and by ensuring those responsible for action are aware of the tool and how to use it. Appropriate alignment of horizon scanning with other tools (e.g. risk assessment) is key to achieving good visibility and supporting decision-making. Details: Striling, Scotland: Cranfield University and Waverly Consultants, 2017. 27p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 8, 2019 at: https://www.sepa.org.uk/media/367058/lsw-b4-literature-review.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Europe URL: https://www.sepa.org.uk/regulations/waste/life-smart-waste/publications/ Shelf Number: 156316 Keywords: Environmental Crime Horizon Scanning Illegal Dumping Illegally Disposed Waste Scotland Supply Chain Waste Management Waste Sites Waste Tracking |