Illegal waste and organised crime: A call for urgent reform

Serious and organised waste crime has emerged as one of the most entrenched challenges in environmental regulation across the UK. In October 2025, the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee published a series of recommendations aimed at addressing what it described as the Environmental Agency’s (EA) “under-prioritised and poorly resourced” response to this growing threat.

The inquiry was triggered by mounting concerns from communities and local authorities over the proliferation of illegal waste sites - many of which continue to operate despite repeated warnings from regulators. Evidence presented to the Committee revealed that more than 38 million tonnes of waste are illegally managed in England each year, costing the economy up to £1 billion annually. These figures underscore not only the environmental harm but also the scale of the challenge facing the EA.

One stark example cited was the six-month period of illegal dumping at Hoa’s Wood, where approximately 30,000 tonnes of household and construction waste were deposited. The Committee criticised the EA’s failure to acknowledge the full extent of abandoned waste, raising serious concerns about transparency, accountability, and the effectiveness of existing enforcement powers.

Systemic Gaps and Key Recommendations

The inquiry exposed significant weaknesses in the detection, policing, and prosecution of waste crime. In response, the Committee issued several recommendations designed to strengthen the legal framework and enforcement mechanisms. Central to these was a call for an independent “root and branch review” of how serious waste crime is managed. The Government has been asked to provide a formal response by May 2027, signalling the urgency of these systemic failures.

Other key recommendations include:

• Enhanced Policing and Prosecution: Waste crime should be treated as organised crime, with improved collaboration between the EA, police forces, and other agencies to ensure robust investigations and prosecutions.

• Accelerated Digital Waste Tracking: The rollout of digital tracking systems is expected to improve traceability and compliance monitoring across the waste supply chain.

• Funding Reform and Waste Crime Levy: The Committee urged reform of restrictive Treasury rules that currently limit enforcement funding, alongside introducing a levy to support waste crime prevention.
• Public Reporting Mechanisms : A single national online portal for reporting illegal waste activity was recommended to empower communities and improve intelligence gathering.

A Turning Point for Environmental Governance?

The Committee’s recommendations represent a significant intervention in the governance of waste crime. If implemented effectively, these measures could strengthen regulatory accountability and reposition waste crime as a serious environmental offence rather than a marginal regulatory issue. This would be welcome news for legitimate operators in the sector, signalling a long-overdue shift toward tackling the deep-rooted problem of organised waste crime.

For more information, please see: Independent review on waste crime needed following multiple failures and lack of action - Committees - UK Parliament