Combatting waste crime

Prosecution of illegal trafficking in waste requires close cooperation between the national authorities concerned, efficient mutual legal assistance and rapid exchange of information. This is however not always the case and may additionally prove particularly difficult and time-consuming with non-EU Member States due to the lack of regular cooperation and well-established contact points.
The report highlighted the following main issues when it comes to cross-border investigations, a characteristic of illegal trafficking in waste.

• Identification issues
  The companies involved are often based in various countries, which cause difficulties in identifying the persons responsible. For example, to question the persons who initiated the waste shipment and determine the extent of the offence. There is further a duty to identify the origin of the waste and to investigate the entire chain of companies that (partially) produced the waste and shipped it abroad. In addition, any intermediaries must be identified and suspects from different countries interrogated.
• Transfer of proceedings
  Legal proceedings against foreign carriers or waste transporters are often transferred to their home countries. The relevant decisions are often lengthy and there is a lack of feedback on the outcome of the proceedings.
• The gathering, transfer and admissibility of evidence in cross-border cases
  Another challenging aspect concerns the gathering, transfer and admissibility of evidence. In case of requests for information from other Member States it is often difficult to comply with the procedural requirements of the requesting jurisdiction. It can also be complicated to ensure that the quantity, nature and form of the evidence submitted is satisfactory and that the deadlines laid down in the national legislation of the requesting Member State have been respected.
  The gathering of evidence may also pose technical difficulties. A shipment of waste may pass through several different jurisdictions. This means collecting evidence from various authorities and assuring that the evidence has not been tampered with (e.g. the defence could otherwise argue that the containers were left unsealed at some point before inspection).
  With regard to waste crimes specific problems arise in relation to waste disposed at sites, which are usually used by various illegal waste disposal companies. This leads to the mixing of waste by different "perpetrators" and it can therefore be extremely difficult to link a particular site with individual suspects. Further, proving intent in this area may be particularly difficult, as suspects regularly defend their actions as unintentional mistakes and lack of awareness of illegality due to the complexity of the legal framework. Shippers of waste also usually claim not to have known about the content of a shipment.