House of Lords: an update on its inquiry into waste crime

The House of Lords Library has published an article on waste crime, reviewing the current position and recent developments. The article considers the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee short inquiry into waste crime which took place in September 2025 and the government’s response to this.

What were the inquiry’s findings?

No report was produced following the short inquiry - instead, the Committee’s Chair wrote a policy letter to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

The letter outlined the Committee’s deep concern that waste crime was “critically under-prioritised despite its significant environmental, economic and social costs”. It also highlighted shortcomings in the current approach to addressing waste crime. This included examples of where the Environment Agency (EA) had failed to:

• Pursue repeated reports of serious waste crime
• Effectively utilise the powers available to it to stop the mass, illegal dumping of waste
• Bring effective, timely and successful prosecutions against the perpetrators of serious and organised waste crime

The government and EA’s desire to move to a circular economy as a key way to eliminate waste crime was acknowledged and welcomed. However, it was stated that “urgent interim action” was required to address harms caused by waste crime.

As a result of the findings, an independent review into waste crime was recommended. Seven further recommendations were made specifically citing the EA. We considered these in our recent article here.

How did the government respond?

In December 2025 the Secretary of State responded to the Committee’s policy letter. It was acknowledged that waste crime:

• Causes damage to the environment
• Undermines legitimate businesses
• Reduces tax income
• Can directly impact people’s health

Closing loopholes exploited by criminals is deemed to be a government priority. The Secretary of State has since met with the EA Chief Executive to discuss the Committee’s recommendations. The EA will now be supported by a 50% increase in its resource in this financial year.

In relation to the Committee’s overarching recommendation for an independent review into waste crime, the Secretary of State said she believes current reforms the government is undertaking are the most effective way to address crime in the waste sector. These reforms follow on from a 2018 independent review into serious and organised waste crime. Another review now would divert “significant resource” from the government’s planned reforms.

How did the Committee react?

The Committee responded shortly afterwards outlining its deep disappointment with the government’s response and saying the depth and breadth of the committee’s concerns had been overlooked.

Government’s current position on waste crime

In January 2026, the government stated it is “committed to tackling waste crime” and that the EA “assesses all reports of waste crime and deploys its resources against the offending that poses the greatest threat, risk and harm”.

A number of initiatives the government and EA are pursuing include:

• The introduction of digital waste tracking - the analysis of data this brings will enable the EA to provide a significant asset for regulators and enforcement bodies in the fight against waste crime
• Looking at other technology-based opportunities to measure the levels of waste crime
• Providing the EA with extra, targeted funds
• Continuing to work with the Treasury on the landfill tax policy
• Keeping under continual review how best to tackle waste crime, including considerations around resourcing

The government wanted to highlight the importance of early prevention and disruption work as prosecutions are “only one part of the picture”. When questioned whether the government would assist landowners responsible for removing waste illegally dumped by others on their land, it was said the issue is being looked at.

The full House of Lords article can be found here: Waste crime: Role of the Environment Agency - House of Lords Library.

Clyde & Co are specialists in dealing with environmental and regulatory claims, and we closely monitor developments around these topics. For more on this subject, you can read all of our previous articles here, and if you have any questions about this topic you can contact Rod Hunt or any of our Safety, Health, Environment and Regulatory team