The shocking news is set to increase cynicism about the value of strict EU directives and household recycling rules. It comes just a week after a Defra study found some UK councils are asking residents to sort their trash into as many as nine bins and are slapping them with heavy fines if they fail to comply.

A shipment of tens of thousands of broken computer and TV monitors were intercepted by the agency on their way to Africa. If they had made it to landfill sites in the country, the electronic items, which are no long allowed in UK rubbish dumps, would have leaked poisonous metals into the ground.

Many children in Africa are also paid to retrieve precious metals from the circuit boards of mobile phones and computers. It is believed that such substances are often melted down to make bullets. Normal household rubbish, as well as rubber tyres, is also often ending up in landfill sites in Asia.

Sarah Chare, who works at the national enforcement department of the Environment Agency, called the practice “despicable”, adding that plastic bottles are often burnt rather than recycled after being transported to the Third World, producing clouds of poisonous gases.

Miss Chare continued, saying that the UK’s reputation for being an environmentally-conscious country is being destroyed by the criminal gangs who are only interested n money and do not care about their effect on the environment.