Landowners urged to be vigilant against waste criminals

The Environment Agency is warning property and land owners to be vigilant against criminals targeting their land and buildings to dump illegally collected waste.

The agency urged landowners to secure their properties and warned that networks of organised criminal gangs operating across the country are targeting private property and land, particularly in rural areas, to dump waste collected illegally.

The Environment Agency’s 2023 National Waste Crime Survey found that 85% of participating landowners and farmers reported being affected by small-scale illegal dumping and 20% by large-scale illegal dumping.

Research by the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) in June also found that 85% of respondents believed the problem of illegal dumping in their area had not changed or had even gotten worse over the past five years.

If waste is dumped on private property, it is the responsibility of the owner of the property or land to clean up the waste at their own expense.

According to the Environment Agency, affected parties could face costs of more than £200,000 to remove illegally dumped waste from their sites.

Waste crime is estimated to cost the UK economy £1 billion a year through tax evasion, environmental and social harm and loss of legitimate business opportunities. Enough waste is illegally processed across the country to fill 4 million skips a year – around 34 million tonnes.

The Environment Agency says it is taking action against these criminals, carrying out on-site inspections and prosecuting the guilty parties within legal limits.

Protection

The Environment Agency has set out steps that property and land owners can follow to protect themselves from waste criminals entering their premises.

This includes:

• Regularly check vacant land and real estate and ensure it is safe;
• Conduct strict checks on potential and new tenants;
• Be vigilant and report any suspected illegal waste activities to the Environment Agency’s 24-hour incident hotline: 0800 80 70 60.

Steve Molyneux, deputy director of waste regulation at the Environment Agency, said: “Our environment is a precious resource that we must protect now and for the next generation, but there are networks of criminal gangs operating across the country waiting to ruin it for everyone.

“They may offer owners money to store waste on their property or land, promising to clean it up later. They don’t. Some don’t ask for it. They break in, dump illegally collected waste and disappear.

“Waste criminals need access to places where they can dump the waste they collect illegally – but your vigilance can stop them. Keeping them off property and land is just one tactic to stop these villains.”

Victoria Vyvyan, chair of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), said: “Flytipping is a crime that is plaguing rural communities.

“Farmers and landowners bear the cost of removing waste, paying an average of £1,000 to remove it. This is not a victimless crime – in some cases they have paid up to £100,000 to clear up someone else’s mess or risk prosecution themselves.

“It’s not just litter that pollutes the landscape, but also tonnes of household and commercial waste that can often be hazardous – including asbestos and chemicals – and poses a risk to farmers, wildlife, livestock, crops and the environment.

According to Vyvyan, waste crime is toxic and causes widespread and significant damage to people, places, the environment, the economy and the rule of law.