The Environment Agency’s heatmap exposes England's waste crime hotspots

The Environment Agency (“EA”) has urged members of the public to report suspected waste crime after publishing a heatmap revealing 16,773 reports of suspected waste crime in England between January 2023 and December 2024.

Public urged to report suspected waste crime as new heatmaps published - GOV.UK

The areas with the highest level of waste crime reports were:

• West Midlands: 2,008 reports
• Yorkshire: 1,791 reports
• East Anglia: 1,678 reports

With the EA finding 18% of all waste is illegally managed, and illegal waste handling, valued at approximately £1 billion, it is an extensive problem the EA is tackling.

The EA estimates only 25% of waste crime incidents are reported with an approximate 34 million tonnes of waste being illegally managed annually. To quantify this, the EA has calculated this is enough waste to fill Wembley Stadium 30 times over or 4 million skips.

With the extensive environmental effect waste crime has, and the vast economic and social cost, the EA’s heatmaps depict the widescale issue across England that needs tackling. The impact of waste crime is a major issue for businesses operating in the waste sector; legitimate waste services are undermined by those not following the requisite requirements. 

The EA has strengthened its enforcement through intelligence-sharing with the police, DVSA, HMRC, and others, so has the tools available, but the scale and extent of the issue is clear.

Smaller scale local multi-agency operations are underway which have positively led to vehicle seizures, prosecutions, and site shutdowns. These have proved successful, nevertheless a vast task remains for the EA.

No doubt the heatmap is a valuable tool and will allow the EA to focus its targeting and regulation going forwards, but with the EA citing 75% of waste crime goes unreported, many hotspots remain hidden.

Continued data transparency, partnership working, and sustained public engagement will assist the EA in reducing illegal practices, but the vastness and extent of the issue is evident.

Clyde & Co are specialists in dealing with regulatory claims, and we closely monitor developments around related 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 Stephanie Lunt or any of our Safety, Health, Environment and Regulatory team.