Environment Secretary forms new Waste Crime Crackdown Group
The UK government has created a new coordination body to tackle organised waste crime, bringing together regulators, police forces, local councils and central government departments for the first time. Dame Angela Eagle, the Environment Secretary, chairs the Waste Crime Crackdown Group, which aims to disrupt criminal gangs that profit from illegal dumping while leaving taxpayers and landowners with the clean-up bill.
Waste crime covers a range of offences. These include operating without permits, illegal dumping, misdescribing waste to avoid proper disposal costs, unlawful exports and unauthorised burning. The consequences affect land quality, water sources, fire safety and air quality. Legitimate waste businesses also face unfair competition from operators who undercut prices by avoiding legal obligations.
The Environment Agency received 10,238 reports of suspected waste crime in 2025. However, the government estimates that only 27% of incidents are actually reported. The West Midlands recorded the highest number of reports at 1,542, followed by Yorkshire with 1,068. These figures suggest the true scale is considerably larger than official data indicates.
Criminal gangs exploit gaps in the waste system to generate significant profits. They avoid licensed disposal costs, conceal operations on remote sites and move quickly when enforcement action threatens. Consequently, communities and public authorities often discover illegal dumps only after substantial damage has occurred. The financial burden then falls on landowners or councils rather than the offenders.
How enforcement agencies will work together
The new group draws together organisations with different powers and responsibilities. The Environment Agency regulates waste activities and can prosecute environmental offences. Police forces investigate organised crime and financial misconduct. Local authorities manage public health concerns and planning enforcement. Mayoral authorities coordinate regional responses.
Previously, these bodies worked largely in isolation. As a result, enforcement often treated individual illegal sites as separate incidents rather than recognising connected criminal networks. The group aims to improve intelligence sharing so that patterns emerge more quickly and agencies can target the organisers rather than just closing individual sites.
The Joint Unit for Waste Crime sits at the centre of this effort. Formed in 2020 and hosted by the Environment Agency, the unit focuses specifically on serious and organised crime in the waste sector. It has grown from 10 to 18 full-time staff by March 2026, with specialists in policing, intelligence analysis and financial investigation. The government reports that the wider joint unit now includes 20 specialists dedicated to supporting environmental officers with investigative capabilities.
The unit's partnership network has expanded to include 12 organisations. This growth reflects a broader recognition that waste crime requires skills beyond traditional environmental regulation. Financial investigators can trace proceeds from illegal operations, while police specialists can link waste crime to other forms of organised criminality such as fraud or money laundering.
Immediate priorities and enforcement powers
The group's first meetings will focus on two areas. First, increasing enforcement action against gangs that profit from illegal dumping. Second, improving how intelligence flows between regulators, police, local authorities and central government. These priorities aim to address both the supply of criminal activity and the coordination needed to detect it.
Members will also examine weaknesses in the waste system that criminals exploit. For instance, operators may misdescribe waste types to secure cheaper disposal routes, or they may use legitimate businesses as fronts for illegal activity. The group will consider whether current enforcement powers are sufficient or whether new legislative tools are needed.
The initiative forms part of a wider enforcement strategy. This includes intelligence-led operations that target high-risk sites before problems escalate, greater use of drone surveillance to monitor remote locations, and closer involvement by regional mayors and police forces. The government has also signalled support for higher fines to make illegal dumping financially unattractive even when offenders avoid prosecution.
Stopping illegal sites represents one measure of enforcement activity. The Environment Agency stopped 224 high-risk illegal waste sites in 2025-26, well above its annual target of 90. In the first quarter of 2026-27, it stopped a further 43 sites against a quarterly target of 17. Between July 2024 and the end of 2025, the agency secured 122 prosecutions, obtained 10 immediate custodial sentences and shut down 1,205 illegal waste sites.
These figures show increased enforcement intensity. Nevertheless, they should not be interpreted as a comprehensive measure of the total number of illegal operations. Many sites remain unreported, and authorities continue to emphasise that official statistics understate the problem.
Recent cases demonstrate the scale and complexity
Several recent investigations illustrate why a coordinated approach has become necessary. At Cave's Inn Pits in Leicestershire, Environment Agency and Natural England officers uncovered a concealed illegal dump containing approximately 30,000 tonnes of waste. A major investigation followed, leading to at least one arrest. The scale of the dump and the concealment methods used suggest organised rather than opportunistic activity.
At Hoad's Wood in Kent, agencies fully cleared illegal waste following a major dumping incident. The Environment Agency worked alongside the Joint Unit for Waste Crime and Kent Police. Three men were arrested during the investigation. The case demonstrated how environmental regulators, specialist units and police forces can pool resources to tackle sites that would overwhelm any single agency.
In Bradford, the Environment Agency began work connected with cleaning up an illegal waste site on Midland Road. A member of the public first reported the site, highlighting the role that local reporting plays in identifying hidden operations. Without public vigilance, many illegal sites would operate undetected for extended periods.
Regional cooperation has also developed outside the new national group. Greater Manchester agencies held a waste crime summit focused on organised criminal gangs and associated criminality. This reflects growing recognition that waste crime often connects to broader criminal networks involving fraud, tax evasion or other offences.
Data, heat maps and the reporting gap
The Environment Agency has published heat maps showing where suspected waste crime is reported across England. The maps cover waste carrying, dumping and burning. They are intended to help agencies identify hotspots and allocate enforcement resources more effectively. Mapping data can reveal patterns that individual incident reports do not, such as clusters along transport routes or in areas with lower enforcement capacity.
However, the maps only reflect reported incidents. The Environment Secretary's estimate that just 27% of waste crimes are reported means that the visible picture is incomplete. Illegal sites may operate in remote locations, on privately owned land or behind legitimate business premises. Consequently, agencies cannot rely solely on complaint data to identify criminal activity.
Public reporting remains important despite these limitations. Members of the public can spot unusual vehicle movements, changes to land use or evidence of dumping that automated monitoring systems miss. Agencies therefore encourage reporting through dedicated hotlines and online portals. Nevertheless, the reporting gap means that enforcement resources must also be directed proactively rather than waiting for complaints.
Key facts about the Waste Crime Crackdown Group
- Dame Angela Eagle, the Environment Secretary, chairs the new Waste Crime Crackdown Group, which coordinates national and regional action against organised illegal dumping.
- The Environment Agency received 10,238 reports of suspected waste crime in 2025, but the government estimates only 27% of incidents are actually reported.
- The Joint Unit for Waste Crime has expanded from 10 to 18 full-time staff by March 2026 and now includes 20 specialists across the wider joint unit.
- The Environment Agency stopped 224 high-risk illegal waste sites in 2025-26 and secured 122 prosecutions between July 2024 and the end of 2025.
- Recent cases include the discovery of approximately 30,000 tonnes of concealed waste at Cave's Inn Pits in Leicestershire and three arrests following a major dumping incident at Hoad's Wood in Kent.
- The group will focus on increasing enforcement against criminal gangs, improving intelligence sharing and examining whether current enforcement powers are sufficient.
What this means for businesses handling waste
Increased enforcement activity affects both legitimate businesses and those operating illegally. Companies that handle, transport or dispose of waste should expect greater scrutiny of their operations, particularly if they operate in regions with high reported incident rates such as the West Midlands or Yorkshire.
Legitimate waste businesses may benefit from reduced unfair competition as enforcement action removes illegal operators who undercut prices by avoiding proper disposal costs. However, they should also ensure their own compliance is beyond question. Regulators increasingly use financial investigation techniques, meaning that unusual pricing, unexplained cash flows or discrepancies in waste volume records may trigger investigations.
Businesses that produce waste also face implications. Duty of care obligations require companies to ensure waste is handled properly throughout the disposal chain. If a business uses a carrier or disposal site that turns out to be operating illegally, the business may face regulatory action even if it did not knowingly participate in the offence. Checking that waste contractors hold valid permits and licences is therefore increasingly important.
For businesses involved in public sector supply chains, waste management practices are becoming a more prominent part of tender evaluations. Sustainable procurement requirements increasingly ask suppliers to demonstrate proper waste handling and disposal. Companies unable to show robust compliance may find themselves excluded from contract opportunities.
The emphasis on organised crime also means that enforcement agencies now routinely investigate financial aspects of waste operations. Directors and senior managers should ensure that company finances clearly reflect waste disposal costs and that all transactions are properly documented. Unexplained discrepancies or cash payments may attract attention from investigators looking for signs of criminal activity.
Landowners who discover illegal dumping on their property face particular challenges. Clean-up costs can run into tens or hundreds of thousands of pounds, yet recovering those costs from offenders is often impossible if the perpetrators cannot be identified or lack assets. Landowners should therefore consider preventive measures such as improved security, regular site inspections and prompt reporting of suspicious activity.
For manufacturers and businesses with significant waste streams, understanding where waste goes after collection is increasingly important. This connects to broader environmental compliance obligations, including carbon reporting where waste management affects Scope 3 emissions. Businesses that can demonstrate transparent, legal waste disposal have a clearer compliance position and lower risk of reputational damage if investigations affect their contractors.
Institutional challenges and likely effectiveness
The group's main significance is institutional rather than operational. It creates a formal structure for coordination between organisations that have often worked separately despite overlapping responsibilities. Whether this structure produces meaningful results depends on several factors.
First, the group must establish effective intelligence-sharing protocols. Different agencies use different systems, hold information to different standards and operate under different legal constraints on data sharing. Creating a seamless flow of intelligence requires technical infrastructure, agreed protocols and legal clarity about what information can be shared and for what purposes.
Second, enforcement outcomes require adequate resources for investigation and prosecution. Identifying an illegal site is one thing; building a prosecution case that leads to conviction and asset recovery is another. Financial investigations, in particular, require specialist skills and can take months or years to complete. The expansion of the Joint Unit for Waste Crime suggests recognition of this challenge, but the unit's 18 full-time staff must cover England's entire waste crime problem.
Third, the group faces the challenge of measuring success. Simple metrics such as sites closed or prosecutions secured do not capture whether organised networks are actually being disrupted. Criminal gangs can absorb individual site closures and continue operating elsewhere. More meaningful measures might include the disruption of financial flows, the recovery of criminal proceeds or reductions in repeat offending by known networks.
The continuing underreporting of incidents complicates assessment. If enforcement activity increases reported incidents, this might indicate growing public confidence in reporting rather than rising crime levels. Conversely, falling incident numbers could reflect either successful deterrence or reduced public engagement with reporting systems.
Clean-up responsibilities also remain contested. When offenders cannot be identified or prosecuted, landowners or public authorities typically bear the cost of removing illegally dumped waste. This creates a moral hazard where criminals can profit from dumping without facing the full consequences if they evade detection. Whether the new coordination structure can improve identification and asset recovery rates will be crucial to its long-term effectiveness.
Where to find further information and guidance
The Environment Agency provides detailed guidance on waste regulation and enforcement. Its website includes information on permits, duty of care obligations and how to report suspected waste crime. Businesses can access this information at the Environment Agency's official pages.
The Joint Unit for Waste Crime operates under the Environment Agency but focuses specifically on serious and organised crime in the waste sector. Information about its work and how to report intelligence is available through official government announcements about the unit's expansion and priorities.
Local authorities publish their own guidance on commercial waste responsibilities and local reporting mechanisms. The Local Government Association provides resources for businesses on understanding their obligations and working with council waste services. Details are available at the LGA website.
For businesses seeking support with broader environmental compliance, including waste management as part of carbon reporting or supply chain requirements, our net zero program provides practical guidance on meeting regulatory obligations and tender requirements.