Companies sending waste overseas have been told by the Environment Agency that they may face punishment if they fail to fully complete legal documents accompanying waste exports.

The Agency has written to firms in the sector to remind them to fully fill out Annex VII forms when sending ‘green list’ waste overseas, as part of a three month awareness campaign to highlight the legal requirements for waste exports.

Annex VII forms – which must be completed to ensure compliance with the European Waste Shipment Regulations – require waste exporters to fill in details of exactly what kind of material is being shipped, where it originated and the facility overseas that it is being shipped to.

Some firms keep sections of the form blank to protect commercial confidentiality claiming that declaring certain information compromises their ability to compete in the market as it potentially reveals core business secrets to rivals, but this has now been deemed unacceptable.