Expect waste duties to be more heavily scrutinised, says expert

Phil Newton of Pinsent Masons said a series of developments in recent months suggest that the EA is becoming a more active waste regulator – and said this could have implications for legitimate businesses in the waste industry.

The EA identified waste crime as a top enforcement priority in its chief regulator’s report 2024-25, after a sharp rise in serious pollution incidents across the waste sector. To support that enforcement drive, the UK government recently allocated more funding to the EA to tackle a growth in serious waste crime that it said is linked to organised crime. It plans to hire more staff to conduct increased enforcement activity. The regulator has already bolstered the number of people in its specific unit focused on tackling waste crime, which it operates in partnership with law enforcement agencies, from 13 to 20.

In addition, the EA has announced that it will deploy new technologies, including drones carrying laser mapping technology, and screening tools that its officers can use to cross-check lorry licence applications against waste permit records, to prevent waste from being moved illegally.

The EA made the announcement on the same day that it confirmed it had blocked access to an illegal waste dump site near the M25 in Essex as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into who was behind the dumping of construction, demolition and processed waste at the site. Two people have been arrested as part of those investigations.

Newton said: “These developments lend weight to the EA being a more active regulator. This will increase the likelihood of the EA looking at whether all potential duty holders – such as waste producers and waste transporters – are meeting their duties of care. They might get caught up in the investigation of illegal super dumps even where there was no criminal intent.”

Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA) places a duty of care on anyone who imports, produces, carries, keeps, treats, disposes of, or is a dealer or broker that has control of, controlled waste. In essence, dutyholders must take reasonable steps to ensure the safe management of waste to protect human health and the environment. Failure to comply is a criminal offence with the potential for an unlimited fine.

Newton said that, where there is a risk of illegal dumping on a site, owners, occupiers and license holders should ensure they have reasonable mitigation procedures in place, such as, for example, improved fencing, systems and processes for surveillance and monitoring and undertaking sampling to understand whether there has been contamination.

According to EA data, there were 146 serious pollution incidents at waste treatment plants, transfer stations and other waste sites in 2024. This is a 57% rise on the 93 recorded incidents recorded in 2023. The waste sector recorded more serious pollution incidents in 2024 than any other industry the EA regulates, including water, agriculture and industrial manufacturing.

The EA carried out most of its site inspections in the waste sector in 2024, continuing a pattern seen in previous years in which waste sites have accounted for the majority of compliance activity. Over 90% of all enforcement notices issued in 2024 went to waste operators, including exporters, transfer stations and treatment facilities. The prosecutions brought by the regulator in 2024 resulted in more than £320,000 in fines and 37 custodial sentences. The EA shut down 743 illegal waste sites, of which 143 were high risk, far above its target of 90. It also blocked the illegal export of 79,713 tonnes of waste.

The House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee held a short inquiry into waste crime last year and warned that waste crime remains a “significant source of concern”.            MPs from both the Public Accounts Committee and the Commons Environment Committee have also questioned whether the EA has the staff, funding and experience needed to keep pace with rising waste crime.

An EA spokesperson said the regulator is “strengthening enforcement and targeting persistent poor performers to ensure regulation supports a level playing field”.