Mat Crocker is to join consultancy firm 360 Environmental as an associate after leaving his role as deputy director for illegals and waste at the Environment Agency (EA) last month after 27 years at the organisation.
Crocker was first Head of Fisheries at the EA before being appointed in 2011 as Head of Illegals, making him a central figure for the agency in the fight against waste crime. He was instrumental in obtaining additional funds from government and in driving working practice changes to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
The EA announced last month that it shut down almost 1,000 illegal waste sites last year and that more than half of the illegal waste sites found by the EA in 2015 were stopped within 90 days, ‘more than ever before’.
Crocker’s decision to step down from his role at the EA follows several senior figures opting to leave the organisation in recent months, after government cuts caused the agency to streamline its operations.
Referring to his time at the EA during a talk at last month’s RWM Conference, Crocker said: “We are not going to win the fight against waste crime by simply shutting down waste sites. We need to cut off the supply. Over my tenure, there have been 31 prison sentences and more than £4 million in fines. I predict (…) the amount of fines will go up.’’
He praised the EA’s success: “I leave an organisation that I genuinely believe is a better organisation now for dealing with this problem than it was a few years ago.’’
360 Environmental
360 Environmental is a consultancy specialising in providing waste legislation compliance support to the waste and recycling sector, general industry and the public sector.
Crocker will take on an associate role, assisting in the provision of compliance solutions for clients.
Phil Conran from 360 Environmental said: “We are extremely excited by the opportunities that Mat’s association will provide us to help businesses to meet the ever increasing and complex requirements of waste legislation.”
Commenting on his new role, Crocker said: “I am really looking forward to working with 360 as a principled and progressive business that I have seen apply high standards of regulatory compliance and as a consequence has an excellent reputation in the sector.”
More information about 360 Environmental can be found on the company’s website.
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