- Newham Council seizes and removes four tonnes of contraband from Newham’s streets
- Haul includes illicit alcohol, vapes, shisha, cosmetics and electrical items
- Campaign continues against unscrupulous business practises across the borough
Newham Trading Standards and Licencing teams have safely disposed of hundreds of thousands of pounds worth of illicit alcohol, disposable vapes, shisha, cosmetics and electrical goods seized during visits to retailers across the borough.
The Council has teamed up with Trademark Protection Solutions (De-Struct UK) specialists in the disposal of these goods in an environmentally safe way.
The work in Newham is being supported and funded by London Trading Standards, and Public Health.
Alcohol, including non-tax paid, and “homemade” counterfeits have been discovered and removed from sale by officers as part of a continuing campaign against unscrupulous business practice.
It is illegal to sell alcohol from non-licensed premises; the sale of non-tax paid drink or counterfeit drink is against the law with perpetrators facing heavy financial penalties of up to £20,000.
Selling illegal alcohol – either untaxed or counterfeit – can pose health risks to consumers and also undermines legitimate businesses who obtain licenses and follow the law.
The disposal of electrical goods can prove particularly difficult – and in particular the huge increase of single use disposable vapes – that can pose significant fire risk if not handled by specialists.
Vapes and other electrical items should never be put in a regular bin but should be returned to the shop or taken to a dedicated recycling centre. However virtually no retailers or vape users are aware of this and new research by Material World said 73 per cent of users simply throw them in with the regular rubbish.
Councillor Amar Virdee, Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Crime said: “In light of the major concerns and increase of incidents involving electrical products and unsafe batteries, I am delighted that Newham officers have been able to disrupt the illegal supply and sale of these dangerous products in the borough.
“The partnership with Destruct UK is a particularly important step for the environment, which is one of this Council’s most important concerns.
“The scale of the operation to destroy these products safely protects both consumers and legitimate business from harm, either physical or financial.
“The disposal of single use disposable vapes is posing a significant environmental challenge to local authorities, which is a major driver in Newham’s call to Government to ban them from sale.”