Review Urged After Failures in Tackling Waste Crime

The Environment and Climate Change Committee has released its policy letter on waste crime, calling for a comprehensive independent review of the UK’s response and highlighting serious shortcomings in the current approach to tackling the issue.

It concludes that waste crime is critically under-prioritised despite costing the economy around £1 billion per year and causing major environmental and social harm. The Committee accuses the Environment Agency of failing to act on reports, enforce existing powers, and prosecute offenders effectively. The letter also criticizes the police for showing limited interest, even though organized criminal groups involved in activities such as drug trafficking and money laundering are active within the waste sector.

The Environment Agency’s Joint Unit for Waste Crime has been deemed ineffective, hindered by weak coordination between agencies and inadequate sharing of intelligence. Penalties for offenders are minimal, landfill tax fraud has never led to a criminal conviction, and regulatory resources are misdirected toward minor infractions rather than large-scale crimes. The letter also raises concerns that planned landfill tax reforms could unintentionally worsen illegal dumping.

To address these failures, the Committee calls for an independent, root-and-branch review of the Government’s entire waste-crime strategy that is to be completed and responded to by May 2027. It urges the creation of a single national reporting portal for waste crime, better coordination among agencies, maintenance of increased EA funding, and swift implementation of reforms such as digital waste tracking and updated carrier and permit regulations. The Committee also supports the EA’s proposed waste crime levy and stresses that immediate interim targets must be set to measure progress while longer-term reforms are underway.

Access the full article and letter here: https://committees.parliament.uk/work/9312/waste-crime/news/209926/independent-review-on-waste-crime-needed-following-multiple-failures-and-lack-of-action/