In our time, organized environmental crime poses a significant challenge on an international level. Recognizing the urgency, the European Multidisciplinary Platform Against Criminal Threats (EMPACT1) has identified environmental crime is a key priority for 2022-2025. Organized environmental crime is characterized by its complexity, its interconnection with other types of crime, and a growing tendency by perpetrators to employ new methods. Consequently, relevant government authorities are driven to adopt cutting-edge technologies as essential tools in their arsenal to address and effectively combat these crimes. However, while new technologies show great potential, they also introduce a series of issues, often marked by legal complexity, which require careful management.
For this reason, the participation of the Hellenic Ministry of Environment and Energy (ΥΠΕΝ-MOEE) in the PERIVALLON project is crucial to address environmental crime broadly and specifically tackle the illegal disposal of waste in unlicensed areas (Figure 1).
The project enables the Ministry to connect through an electronic platform and collaborate more effectively with relevant national authorities, such as the Hellenic Police and municipal environmental services.
Furthermore, it integrates new technologies into managing these issues, enhancing the role of the Ministry and the competent waste management directorate. This results in accelerated procedures and reduced response times for identifying illegal waste disposal sites and promptly alerting control authorities to intervene or log incidents for future action.
The Hellenic Ministry of Environment and Energy is involved in Pilot Use Case 1, focusing on identifying and monitoring illegal waste disposal using geospatial intelligence and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) technology. Specifically, satellite images and aerial photographs are processed through the PERIVALLON platform that applies state-of-the-art machine learning and deep learning techniques to effectively identify potential waste disposal sites. This approach prioritizes using platform data and supplementary information to combat criminal networks profiting from illegal waste activities. Geospatial analysts verify suspicious locations using satellite imagery and Geographic Information System (GIS) data, confirming illegal activity and notifying authorities.
Subsequently, field inspections are conducted using UAVs (Figure 2), which collect data via coordinated operations using common commercial UAVs. The platform then constructs a 3D model of the area, providing information such as volume estimation and identification of illegal materials. The collected data is classified according to the European Waste Inventory (EWC-Stat), and a report summarizing findings and illegal substances is generated. This report is then recorded in a dashboard format and securely shared with authorities for investigation and enforcement. This method is also applied to monitor licensed disposal sites, such as landfills, to ensure they do not accept unauthorized materials or exceed permitted volumes.
In conclusion, with respect to the role of the MOEE, verification of illegal waste disposal sites initially relies on received information. Once a geospatial analyst confirms the presence and classification of an illegal disposal site, an immediate alert is created on the platform and forwarded to the relevant authorities, such as the Ministry of the Interior. Once the alert is generated and sent, the case is evaluated and potentially flagged for subsequent surveillance through the analysis of satellite imagery (for example, to monitor the evolution of the area). As a user and operator of the platform, the MOEE can also add comments about the incident for further investigation in the future.
Written by Nora Saous
Hellenic Ministry of Environment and Energy