Public urged to report suspected waste crime as new heatmaps published

Amid a government clampdown on rogue waste operators to clean up Britain's streets, the Environment Agency has today (Wednesday 28 May) published new heatmaps showing the densest areas of waste crime reports in England.   

Across England, 16,773 reports of suspected waste crime were submitted from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2024. The maps show the highest number of reports were concentrated in the West Midlands (2,008 reports), Yorkshire (1,791 reports) and East Anglia (1,678 reports). 

With the data demonstrating that criminals blighting towns, cities and countryside are active across the country, the Environment Agency is urging the public to report more suspected offending as it looks to shut rogue operators out of the waste industry for good. 

Waste criminals cost the economy an estimated £1 billion every year. Estimates suggest a staggering 34,000 million tonnes of waste is illegally managed annually, enough to fill Wembley Stadium 30 times over or 4 million skips – but the true scale of offending is likely far greater due to under-reporting of incidents. 

Under their Plan for Change, the government has confirmed rogue operators caught transporting and dealing with waste illegally will face up to five years in prison under new legislation. Longer prison sentences for rogue waste operators and new powers for councils to crush vehicles involved in waste crime will act as a strong deterrent and ensure the full force of the law comes down hard on those trashing the nation's communities. 

Emma Viner, Enforcement & Investigations Manager at the Environment Agency, said:

Waste crime is toxic. Criminals steal business from legitimate operators, trash local communities, harm the environment, and avoid paying taxes which fund public services. 

As a nation, we must stand united against criminals, working together to stop them. We can all play our part by taking steps to keep waste away from criminals in the first place and reporting any suspected wrongdoing.

Circular Economy Minister Mary Creagh said:

Through our Plan for Change, this government will crack down on the waste cowboys, seize and crush fly-tippers' vans, and clean up Britain. 

We will not stand idly by while organised crime groups profit from an avalanche of rubbish burying our communities and undercutting legitimate business.

The Environment Agency's National Waste Crime Survey shows just 25% of all waste crime incidents are thought to be reported. Every piece of information the Environment Agency receives is crucial in helping them to bring offenders to justice. The earlier an incident is reported to the regulator, the quicker it can deal with it and prevent an escalation. 

To do so, the public can submit reports via the Environment Agency's 24-hour incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60 or to Crimestoppers via their website or by calling 0800 555 111, which is always 100% anonymous. 

To prevent criminals getting their hands on waste in the first place, the public is urged to use only waste carriers listed on the public register to take away their rubbish. 

Jacob Hayler, Executive Director of the Environmental Services Association, said:

Waste crime harms the environment, damages communities and threatens legitimate waste services.  

As citizens, we each have a duty of care, not only to stop our waste from falling into the wrong hands, but to report suspected illegal handling and dumping of waste when we see it – helping the regulatory authorities to catch and punish those responsible.

Dan Cooke, Director of Policy, Communications and External Affairs at CIWM, said: 

Waste crime at all levels continue to cause misery and anxiety to people and communities across the UK. Importantly, it also restricts the opportunities for local economies to thrive, as well as often causing real environmental harm.  

We'll continue to work with CIWM members, local authorities, and regulators to promote best practice and deploy all available resources in the ongoing pursuit of high-quality environments enabling thriving local economies for businesses and communities.

The publication of the heatmaps comes amid the Environment Agency's ongoing #WasteCrimeWednesday social media campaign, which targets the public, the waste industry, and waste criminals themselves as the regulator looks to stop waste crime for good. 

As the environmental regulator for waste businesses operating in England, the Environment Agency uses an intelligence-based approach with its partners to bring waste criminals to justice through tough enforcement action and prosecutions. Its investigations helped secure numerous convictions in relation to waste crime in 2023 and 2024.

Case studies

West Midlands

• In September 2023, a Worcestershire-based director and his company were ordered to pay nearly £110,000 following a case brought by the Environment Agency for the unlawful storage, treatment and disposal of waste without an environmental permit. Environment Agency officers found evidence the G R Shorthouse Ltd site in Hopton Wafers was being used for the storage of scrap metal, burning of wood waste, and unauthorised use of construction and demolition waste, offending described by the sentencing judge as an intentional and flagrant breach of the law aggravated by previous convictions and financial motivation. 
• In March 2025, a Droitwich-based business was made to pay more than £52,000 after failing to comply with a demand for information about the materials they accepted. The information was required from Tetron Welbeck Limited Liability Partnership to allow the Environment Agency to conduct an audit of the site to ensure waste within the correct category was being accepted. 

Yorkshire 

• Following a successful prosecution by the Environment Agency, Stuart Bedford was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment for running waste operations in Bradford and Doncaster without the required environmental permit and keeping waste at the sites in a manner likely to pollute the environment or harm human health, while Vicky Bedford was sentenced to a 12-month community order and 15 days rehabilitation activity requirement for her involvement. 
• Elsewhere, in June 2023, an East Yorkshire man received a suspended sentence and was ordered to pay £2,000 in compensation and costs, after illegally storing hazardous waste and running an illegal waste site in Aldbrough. An investigation by the Environment Agency found Stephen Coates was storing abandoned corroding chemical drums, intermediate bulk containers, shipping containers, old tyres and flooring materials appearing to contain asbestos on his land next to a residential house during a five-period from March 2017 to March 2022. 

East Anglia

• Another successful prosecution by the Environment Agency in 2023 saw a 29-year-old man whose lorry was used to dump illegal mixed waste at a Kent industrial estate jailed. James Atkins was sentenced to a 16-month jail term, with Her Honour Judge Loram KC telling the court that he was responsible for the ‘planned and cynical dumping of waste', which was described as ‘sophisticated'. 

• Elsewhere, an Essex man was jailed and ordered to pay costs of £85,000 for illegally importing and burning waste.