Debate on waste crime in Staffordshire

Waste crime is a devolved policy area and this debate pack covers the situation in England only. Members and their staff may contact the Library for information about waste crime in the other parts of the UK.

The Conservative government’s 2018 Resources and Waste strategy defines waste crime as anything that intentionally breaks the law relating to the handling and disposal of waste. Waste crime can be motivated by landfill tax evasion and generally covers activities including illegal exports of waste, large scale fly tipping, illegal burning of waste, illegal operation of waste sites, non-compliance with the waste duty of care, misclassifying waste and falsifying records.

There are many different waste offences. The Environment Agency, the environmental regulator for England, has published a list of offences and sanctions in a policy paper, Waste Offences, updated 28 June 2024. It includes, for example, the offence of “Depositing, knowingly causing or knowingly permitting the deposit of controlled waste or extractive waste on land without, or other than in accordance with, an environmental permit,” (section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, as amended) and which is the main offence used in fly tipping cases.

The true scale of waste crime is, by its nature, difficult to fully quantify. Those involved in it normally seek to evade detection. In July 2023 the Environment Agency found that approximately 18% of all waste is illegally managed, equating to 34 million tonnes. This is the equivalent of enough waste to fill Wembley Stadium 30 times.

The Environment Agency’s National Waste Crime Survey 2023 report stated that waste crime costs the economy in England an estimated £1 billion per year through evaded tax, environmental and social harm, and lost legitimate business. This represents a 55% increase since its 2015 estimate of £604 million per year.