Councils to seize and crush fly-tipping vehicles to clean up Britain

A new crackdown on cowboy waste operators will tackle soaring fly-tipping and clean up Britain's streets, lanes and rural areas, the Government has announced today (Tuesday 29 April).   

Councils will work with the police to identify, seize and crush vehicles of waste criminals. Drones and mobile CCTV cameras will be deployed to identify cars and vans belonging to fly-tippers so they can be destroyed.   

Ministers have launched a rapid review to slash red tape blocking councils from seizing and crushing vehicles. Councils currently have to bear the significant cost of seizing and storing vehicles but under new plans fly-tippers will cover this cost, saving councils and taxpayers money.  

In addition, waste cowboys will now face up to five years in prison for operating illegally. Any criminals caught transporting and dealing with waste illegally will now face up to five years in prison under new legislation.   

Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Steve Reed said:   

“Waste criminals and fly-tippers who blight our towns and villages have gone unpunished for too long.   

“That ends today. The Government is calling time on fly-tipping. I will not stand by while this avalanche of rubbish buries our communities.  

“Under the Plan for Change, this Government will seize and crush fly-tippers vans' to clean up Britain's streets.” 

These measures support the Government's Plan for Change and will help deliver its key mission of Safer Streets for the public, restoring communities' faith in efforts to combat anti-social behaviour.  

Waste crime is trashing communities across the country. Fly-tipping has skyrocketed by a fifth whilst the number of prosecutions has fallen by the same amount since 2018/19. The failure to punish these criminals has left our high streets, roads and countryside buried under an avalanche of rubbish.  

The Environment Agency will also carry out identity and criminal record checks on operators in the sector so there is nowhere to hide for rogue firms.  

It will be handed more resources as they will now be able to fund the cost of policing the industry through permits, boosting their powers and cutting costs for taxpayers. The reforms will also give them more power to revoke permits, issue enforcement notices and hefty fines.   

Philip Duffy, Environment Agency Chief Executive, said:  

“Waste crime is toxic. Criminals' thoughtless actions harm people, places, and the economy, blighting our communities and disrupting legitimate businesses.   

“At the Environment Agency, we're determined to bring these criminals to justice through tough enforcement action and prosecutions. That's why we support the Government's crackdown on waste criminals, which will ensure we have the right powers to shut rogue operators out of the waste industry."  

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

“For too long, criminality has run rampant across the waste sector. These illegal activities threaten the environment; damage communities and undermine legitimate recycling and waste operations. ESA has long campaigned for tighter rules, tougher enforcement and harsher penalties to deter criminals, so we very much welcome today's reforms and hope that they are put to good use driving criminals out of our sector.  

“In particular, the proposed reforms to the carriers, brokers, dealers and exemption regimes, coupled with strong and effective enforcement from the regulators, could go a long way to help tackle the scourge of waste crime, with increased scrutiny and accountability making it much harder for criminals to operate in our sector.”   

 Councillor Muhammed Butt, Leader of Brent Council, said: 

“Our residents have had enough of the dumpers who pollute their neighbourhoods with rubbish. These new powers will be a welcome addition to our arsenal, reinforcing our zero-tolerance stance on fly-tipping. We've already witnessed the positive impact of our focused efforts, and I am determined to use every tool at our disposal, including seizing vehicles, to reclaim our streets."  

The Government is making available £69 billion to council budgets across England – a 6.8% cash terms increase – and bringing forward the first multi-year funding settlement in a decade, to help fund key responsibilities like tackling fly-tipping.  

ENDS 

More information on new measures:  

• Local authorities have the power to seize vehicles linked to fly-tipping which can lead to them selling or destroying it, however it is not a widely used tactic with just two councils accounting for the majority of the vehicles seized in 2023/24. The new review will investigate what measures could potentially be taken to increase the use of these powers, helping to see more vehicles involved in illegal dumping of waste taken off the streets. 

• Tighter checks for those who transport, buy or sell waste – known as the carriers, brokers and dealers regime – will mean firms will be required to clearly display their registration in their adverts and demonstrate their competence in handling these materials through professional qualifications. This will make it harder for rogue traders who plan to dump the waste they collect to operate, stopping them from falsely advertising their services and helping protect innocent customers who could become liable to prosecution.  

• Permit exemptions for the waste industry were originally designed to reduce burdens on waste firms undertaking low risk activities. However, waste cowboys have exploited this system to hide their illegal activity. With much closer scrutiny and regulation of the scrap metal, end-of-life vehicle and tyre sectors, the Government has announced loopholes for these activities will be shut. This will stop further environmental harm from sectors which have seen large-scale abuses from illegitimate operators in recent years.  

More information on fly-tipping incidents   

• The number of fly-tipping incidents has slowly crept up to over 1.1 million each year.

• The latest fly-tipping statistics for England can be found on GOV.UK here.  

• A breakdown of fly-tipping incidents by local authority in England can be found on GOV.UK here.  

Additional quotes  

Country Land and Business Association (CLA) President Victoria Vyvyan said: 

“We're pleased to see, following years of campaigning by the CLA, that progress is being made in the fight against fly-tipping, and this news is welcome. 

“Rural crime blights the countryside, and action is badly needed. The number of incidents is rising, but enforcement actions, fixed penalty notices and total number of court fines are all down year-on-year. This cannot go on. 

“Some local authorities are already seizing vehicles of fly-tippers, but last year two councils accounted for more than 60% of seizures so these powers need to be used much more widely to send a serious message to these environmental criminals. 

“The CLA is supportive of closer co-operation and information sharing between the police, local authorities and the Environment Agency to help them identify and prosecute fly-tippers.”