A debate on the impact of waste management sites on local communities

There will be a debate on the impact of waste management sites on local communities in Westminster Hall on Wednesday 15 July 2026 at 2.30pm. The debate will be opened by Lorraine Beavers MP (Labour).

Waste management sites can provide essential local infrastructure, support recycling and recovery, and some reduce reliance on landfill. However, they can also have undesirable local effects, including odour, noise, dust, smoke, litter, traffic, pests, flies, birds, visual effects, fire risk and public concern about health impacts.

Waste management sites are regulated by planning system, which decides whether the use of land is acceptable, and environmental permitting system, which regulates how the activity is operated to prevent or minimise pollution. Local authorities also have duties under statutory nuisance law: they must investigate complaints from residents where reasonably practicable and serve an ‘abatement notice’ if they find the site is causing, or is likely to cause, a statutory nuisance.

As waste management is a devolved area, the following information applies to England only.

Types of waste management site

Waste management sites are facilities or sites used to collect, sort, process, recycle, or permanently dispose of residential, commercial, and industrial waste.

The main types of waste management sites include:

• Recycling and materials recovery facilities: Sites where mixed recyclables (like paper, plastics, and metals) are separated, baled, and prepared for reuse by manufacturers.
• Household waste recycling centres (also known as civic amenity sites): Local drop-off points where the public can bring bulky household items, electronics, and garden waste for proper sorting and recycling.
• Waste transfer stations: Temporary holding facilities where smaller collection vehicles unload waste. The waste is compacted into larger containers or trucks for more efficient transportation to long-term processing or disposal sites.
• Landfill sites: Engineered sites designed for the permanent disposal of waste. They are often lined with clay or plastic to prevent hazardous materials from seeping into groundwater, and they often feature systems to collect greenhouse gases for energy.
• Energy-from-waste/incineration sites: Facilities that burn waste at high temperatures, using the generated heat to produce electricity or steam for local communities.
• Composting and anaerobic digestion sites: Sites dedicated to biological waste treatment. Composting breaks down organic waste aerobically (in the presence of oxygen from the air), while anaerobic digestion breaks it down in sealed tanks to produce biogas (for energy) and nutrient-rich fertiliser. For further information see POST, Upscaling anaerobic digestion, 7 July 2026.
• Scrap metal, end-of-life vehicle and waste electrical and electronics sites: Facilities that dismantle, sort, and process metal-rich wastes such as scrap steel, aluminium, copper, vehicles, appliances, and electrical equipment. Materials are separated into reusable components and recyclable metals, while hazardous parts such as batteries, oils, fuels, refrigerants, or certain electronic components are removed for specialist treatment or safe disposal.
• Hazardous waste sites: Specialised facilities equipped to treat or securely store toxic, medical, or chemical waste that requires specialist safety and regulatory oversight.

In addition to the above there are also illegal waste sites; sites where waste, such as household rubbish, construction rubble, tyres, or hazardous materials, is deposited, stored, treated, or burned without the legally required environmental permits. For further information about these sites see Environment Agency blog, Waste site watchlist: Improving transparency with communities, 22 May 2026.

Planning controls

Planning for waste infrastructure is usually handled by the county council in two-tier areas, or by the unitary authority or national park authority. These are collectively known as waste planning authorities.

Government planning guidance on waste sets out that waste planning authorities are responsible for determining all land development involving waste management, except:

• proposed development of a generating station of more than 50 megawatts capacity
• hazardous waste landfill or deep storage facilities for the purpose of final disposal or recovery of hazardous waste accepting more than 100,000 tonnes of hazardous waste per year, or any other hazardous waste facility for the purpose of final disposal or recovery of such waste accepting more than 30,000 tonnes per year. These thresholds apply to any extensions or alterations to existing hazardous waste facilities
• waste water treatment plants with a capacity to exceed a population equivalent of 500,000
• facilities to transfer or store waste water facilities if the capacity for storage of waste water exceeds 350,000 cubic metres

These applications are dealt with using procedures for nationally significant infrastructure projects under the Planning Act 2008 where the Secretary of State is the relevant decision maker.

Assessing the suitability of sites

The government’s National Planning Policy for Waste, October 2014, says waste planning authorities should identify suitable sites and areas for new or enhanced waste management facilities, consider a mix of facility types and scales, and take account of the waste hierarchy (PDF, a framework that ranks waste management strategies from most to least environmentally sound). In selecting or determining sites, authorities should consider physical and environmental constraints, neighbouring land uses, transport infrastructure, and the cumulative impact of existing and proposed waste disposal facilities on local community wellbeing.

The policy states that in testing the suitability of sites, waste planning authorities should consider factors including:

• protection of water quality and resources and flood risk management
• land instability
• landscape and visual impacts
• conserving nature and the historic environment
• traffic and access
• air emissions, including dust
• odours
• vermin and birds
• noise, light and vibration
• litter
• potential land use conflict

Use of planning conditions

Planning authorities may allow a development but impose planning conditions to manage negative impacts that would make it otherwise unacceptable. The government’s National Planning Policy Framework, December 2024, states that planning conditions should be kept to a minimum and only imposed where they are “necessary, relevant to planning and to the development to be permitted, enforceable, precise and reasonable in all other respects”.

Enforcement action

Planning enforcement is the responsibility of the relevant local planning authority (LPA), even if the Secretary of State or a planning inspector originally granted planning permission. LPAs have several enforcement tools at their disposal, including powers to take enforcement action against breach of any planning conditions. For more detailed information about the powers see government guidance, Enforcement and post-permission matters, 6 May 2026.

The National Planning Policy Framework states that, “enforcement action is discretionary, and local planning authorities should act proportionately in responding to suspected breaches of planning control”. Some LPAs will look at the amount of harm caused by the suspected breach and examine whether it justifies taking action. Taking enforcement action requires staff time, expertise and resources on the part of the LPA. These may also be factors in deciding whether to act.

Separation from environmental permitting

The National Planning Policy for Waste distinguishes land-use acceptability from operational pollution control: waste planning authorities should consider local environmental and amenity impacts, but should not control processes that are for pollution-control authorities, such as the Environment Agency.

Environmental permitting

Certain types of activities, including activities that involve waste, require an environmental permit to be issued before they can go ahead. The Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, as amended, set the permitting requirements. An environmental permit will usually include conditions controlling how the activity is operated, including how waste is stored, treated or disposed of, and how emissions or pollution risks are managed.

Operating without a required permit or exemption is unlawful. See government guidance, Check if you need an environmental permit, March 2026.

In England, regulation and determination of permits are split between the Environment Agency (EA) and local authorities; most waste-related permits are managed by the EA.

Environmental permits are public records; people can search for a specific facility’s environmental permit and, where available, compliance assessment reports online, Environmental Permitting Regulations – Waste Operations.

Monitoring and inspection

An environmental permit usually requires the operator to have a written management system. This is a set of procedures describing what the operator will do to minimise the risk of pollution from the activities covered by their permit. For further information see EA, Develop a management system: environmental permits, April 2023.

The permit will specify what the operator needs to monitor to ensure they are not exceeding any limits in their permit. Government guidance, Control and monitor emissions for your environmental permit (December 2025) states that operators should use equipment, staff, laboratories and systems that are certified or accredited (as appropriate) under the Monitoring Certification Scheme for emissions to air, land and water, unless otherwise agreed in writing by the EA.

The regulations require regulators (such as the EA) to inspect regulated facilities periodically (see regulation 34(2) of the 2016 regulations). This inspection process can include reviewing information from the operator as well as carrying out independent monitoring, site inspections, in-depth audits and other compliance-related work.

Exemptions

There are specified exemptions to the requirement to hold an environmental permit. Generally, people seeking an exemption must register with the EA and pay a fee. The exemptions and what they may be used for are explained in more detail in the government’s Waste exemption guides, July 2025.

An example of an exemption is the U10 exemption (spreading waste to benefit agricultural land), which allows certain wastes to be spread on agricultural land to improve soil. It does not allow waste to be spread where it does not benefit the land, or where more waste is applied than needed so that it becomes disposal.

Enforcement

If someone has concerns that a permit is not in place or that a condition is being breached, they can contact the EA (the EA incident hotline is 0800 80 70 60). Operating without the appropriate permit is illegal and can result in enforcement actions, including fines or prosecution. The EA may take enforcement action for breaches of permit conditions or environmental offences, in accordance with its Enforcement and sanctions policy, October 2025.

Statutory nuisance

Local authorities have powers and duties under sections 79 and 80 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA) relating to statutory nuisances. Nuisance can include “any accumulation or deposit which is prejudicial to health or a nuisance”. Local authorities must inspect their areas from time to time to detect statutory nuisances and, where a complaint of a statutory nuisance is made by a person living within the authority’s area, must take such steps as are reasonably practicable to investigate it. If the authority is satisfied that a statutory nuisance exists, or is likely to occur or recur, section 80 requires that they “shall” serve an abatement notice on the person causing the nuisance requiring them to stop. If the person responsible for the nuisance does not comply with the abatement notice, they may be prosecuted and fined.

If, for whatever reason, the local authority does not act, or if someone does not want to involve it, then they can complain about statutory nuisance directly to the magistrates’ court under section 82 of the EPA. Again, the magistrates’ court will need to be persuaded that the problem amounts to a “statutory nuisance”. If the court finds that there is a statutory nuisance, the court will issue an order telling the offender to stop the nuisance and what they must do to achieve this. The court may also give the offender a fine. Anyone considering legal action should seek professional legal advice. The Library briefing Legal help: where to go and how to pay, August 2025, may be of help here.

For further information see government guidance, Statutory Nuisance, 7 April 2015.

Where the same event could also be prosecuted under environmental permitting, a local authority generally needs the Secretary of State’s consent before prosecuting under statutory nuisance provisions. However, it does not need that consent to investigate or serve an abatement notice. For further information see government guidance, Interaction between Environmental Permitting and local authorities’ statutory nuisance duties, September 2017.

Impacts, complaints and breaches

The EA’s Chief Regulator’s report 2024-25: supporting evidence, November 2025, sets out that most waste produced in England is reused or used for energy generation, rather than sent to landfill. This means that there are many sites storing, processing and treating wastes, often in or near communities. The report states that risks of problems such as fires, odour and noise “are common”. Operators are expected to reduce these risks by having appropriate management plans.

In relation to odour control, the EA’s report stated that the EA continues to “provide additional training and guidance to our staff who regulate and respond to odour incidents. We are also developing training that will specifically cover odour pollution from the landfill and deposit for recovery sector.”

Landfill

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA, the government agency charged with protecting public health) published guidance on Impacts on health of emissions from landfill sites in January 2024. It set out that substances from active, closed or historic landfill sites could reach nearby people through airborne emissions such as dust, odours, vapours and gases, with exposure depending on weather conditions, distance from the site and time spent nearby.

It said that leachate (water that has passed through a landfill) could also contaminate groundwater or surface water, potentially exposing people to waste through drinking water, cooking, or irrigation, although risks are “minimised” where water is treated before supply. This could also exposure people to risk through vapour inhalation or recreation (such as swimming).

Incineration

One of the main concerns around waste incineration is how air pollutants may affect human health. To investigate this, Public Health England (now the UKHSA), funded a study to examine links between emissions of particulate matter from incinerators and health outcomes. Particulate matter refers to a mixture of microscopic solid particles and liquid droplets suspended in the air, commonly associated with air pollution or soot, and made up of various chemicals and compounds.

The study was carried out by the Small Area Health Statistics Unit at Imperial College London. Following the study, Public Health England published a guidance statement in October 2019, stating that its view was that “modern, well run and regulated municipal waste incinerators are not a significant risk to public health”.

For further information about incineration impacts and regulation see Library briefing, Incineration of waste in England, April 2025.

Recorded incidents

The EA’s Chief Regulator’s report 2024-25: supporting evidence, November 2025, recorded 146 serious pollution incidents (generally associated with major and significant impacts on human health, quality of life or the environment) from waste management activities in 2024, a 57% increase from 93 in 2023.

The report said 58 of these were caused by activities in the waste treatment sector, an increase from 50 in 2023. Of these 58 incidents, 42 were reported to have caused pollution in the form of amenity impacts (which reduce the general quality or character of an area, such as by presenting an eyesore); 17 incidents were related to noise, 13 were related to odour, eight were related to smoke, four were related to dust and one was related to flies (some incidents may have involved more than one cause).

Information on specific sites

The EA has an online Waste Hub that provides further information about its work on illegal waste sites and certain regulated waste sites where compliance issues have been raised. It contains links to actions being taken in relation to these sites in the following areas:

• West Midlands regulated sites
• Devon, Cornwall, Isles of Scilly Regulated Sites
• East Anglia Regulated Sites
• Cumbria & Lancashire regulated sites
• Wessex regulated sites
• Yorkshire regulated sites

In May 2026 the EA published a “watchlist” of 117 known waste sites in England causing concern for local communities, which it states will be reviewed every month, Locations of high priority waste sites in England.

Government work on tackling waste crime

In March 2026 the government published a Waste Crime Action Plan. It focuses on three priorities: preventing waste crime, strengthening enforcement, and cleaning up the damage caused by illegal waste activity.

To prevent waste crime the government plans to:

• reform regulation of waste carriers to move towards an environmental permitting rather than registration system
• introduce mandatory digital waste tracking, to require those who produce, handle, dispose of, or make products from, waste to enter information onto a digital system
• reform waste exemptions
• give regulators and local authorities stronger tools to identify and stop illegal activity earlier.

To enforce regulations and remediate environmental damage, the government has said it is providing additional funding to the EA, expanding the use of intelligence, drones and satellite technology, exploring stronger enforcement powers and penalties, and committing to clear the most serious illegal waste sites while supporting landowners affected by waste dumping.