Minister for Nature (): The Government has published
its Waste Crime Action Plan for England. The
plan sets out our zero-tolerance approach to prevent waste crime,
pursue the criminals responsible and accelerate the clean-up
effort.
People take pride in the places they call home – the streets
outside their front door, the parks where children play, and the
fields and riversides where they walk. But fly-tippers and waste
criminals blight our communities and exploit the waste sector for
profit. These people damage the environment, threaten public
safety and undercut decent businesses doing the right thing.
The Environmental Services Association estimates that 20% of all
waste in England is illegally managed, and that waste crime is
costing our economy £1 billion each year. In 2023-24, we lost at
least £150 million in revenue due to Landfill Tax evasion.
Since coming into office, this Labour Government has taken
significant strides to tackle the waste criminals. We have
boosted the Environment Agency's enforcement budget by 50%,
pursued major regulatory reforms and boosted the Joint Unit for
Waste Crime. In the first 18 months of this Parliament, the
Environment Agency stopped illegal waste activity at 1,205 sites,
achieved 122 prosecutions and put 10 criminals behind bars.
The Waste Crime Action Plan shows how we are increasing our
response to waste crime in three ways:
-
Prevention. We are strengthening the
regulatory regime to make it harder for waste criminals. We are
tightening the rules around waste carriers, brokers and dealers
to close the loopholes that criminals exploit. We are
introducing digital waste tracking to improve accountability
and traceability. We are expanding tax-check rules to the waste
sector, making waste permit renewals conditional on operators
passing checks on their tax records. We are equipping councils
and regulators with the tools they need to deter, disrupt and
stop illegal waste activity before it emerges or escalates.
-
Enforcement. Offenders must face the
consequences of their actions. We are committing a further £45
million over the next three years for the Environment Agency to
spend on waste crime enforcement, up from £10 million in
2023-24. We are going to give new police-style powers to
Environment Agency officers to intervene earlier, disrupt
criminal networks and bring more criminals to justice. We are
investing in satellite technology and drones to improve early
detection of waste crime and build stronger evidence for
prosecution. We will make fly-tippers join ‘clean-up squads'
and put penalty points on their driving licences. Waste
criminals will face penalties that reflect the full severity of
the harm that they cause.
-
Remediation. We are directly cleaning up a
small number of the worst sites, starting immediately with
site-specific assessments to determine the feasibility of
clearing sites at:
- Alan Ramsbottom Way, Hyndburn;
- Worthing Road, Sheffield; and
- Bolton House Road, Wigan .
We are also supporting the remediation of other illegal waste
sites, developing with local authorities a Landfill Tax rebate
scheme. We are working with the insurance industry to explore new
models to protect farmers, businesses and landowners from bearing
the cost of waste dumped illegally on their land.
Waste crime has grown more organised and more damaging. The
Government's response is stepping up to match it.
Through this Action Plan, we are taking a zero-tolerance
approach. We will build a thriving waste sector – safe from
exploitation, fair for business and fit for the future. We will
catch and prosecute the criminals responsible. And we will
restore pride in our communities.
