Police in Hertfordshire, England, arrested a man last month for fly-tipping, or illegal dumping, according to reporting by Rayo.
Hertfordshire Police have been working closely with several organizations, including the National Farmers' Union, the Environment Agency, and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, since September on an investigation into organized waste crime.
The investigation began after a series of incidents in which unknown persons dumped significant quantities of macerated waste in several rural locations around Hertfordshire, Essex, Cambridgeshire, and Bedfordshire.
Some of the waste was dumped on local farms, negatively impacting farmers in the area. Rayo reported that one affected farmer, Ashley Greenall, shared: "Illegal dumping of waste on my farmland has caused significant disruption and distress, placing an added financial burden of more than £5,000 [$6,575] on an already struggling family farming business."
On Oct. 1, officers from the East Herts Rural Neighbourhood Policing Team tracked down an alleged suspect. When they stopped the man's vehicle, they found it full of macerated waste. They also discovered a knuckle duster hidden in a bag and false vehicle tags concealed within the truck.
Police arrested the man and seized not only his vehicle, but also another vehicle suspected of being involved in the illegal dumping scheme.
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Although the investigation will continue with the Environment Agency, with the police as needed, the arrest marks a step forward in stopping the increase in illegally dumped waste.
Besides the financial burden of cleaning up the waste, the cleanup also added considerable physical effort and time to farmers' lives, time they would otherwise have spent tending their farms.
In addition, there is always a risk that those cleaning up illegally dumped waste may miss something, such as a hazardous material, that could result in contaminants or microplastics leaching into the soil and nearby water, which would negatively impact crops on the land.
As Rayo reported, David Miller, the neighborhood sergeant for the East Herts area, explained: "The costs associated with fly-tipping are huge, from cleanup costs to unpaid landfill tax, and these incidents have a big impact on our hardworking farmers, as well as the wider community."
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