Waste Crime

Operators will need to pass identity, criminal record and technical competence checks from 2027, with illegal waste transport carrying up to five years in prison.

Voluntary beta opens on 28 April ahead of mandatory use at around 12,000 permitted waste receiving sites in England, Wales and Northern Ireland from October.

Work begins this week to remove 21,000 tonnes of illegally dumped waste from a site near the A34 in Oxfordshire, in an operation the Environment Agency expects to take six months and between 15 and 30 lorry loads a day.

Monthly Annex VII submissions, GPS data and geotagged facility photographs among requirements as regulator extends tyre export controls to all Article 18 waste streams.

University of Manchester engineers deploy fleet of AI-powered litter collection robots in Cheshire town, with council leaders already eyeing enforcement capabilities.

Cross-party coalition in Havering writes to Prime Minister calling for legislation to give councils stronger powers over contaminated land and historic landfill sites.

Regulatory reform for carriers, brokers and permit exemption holders sits alongside new enforcement powers and government-funded clearance of the worst illegal sites.

Defra plans to extend powers under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act to Environment Agency officers, while fly-tippers could face driving licence penalty points under a new waste crime action plan.

Average court fines for fly-tipping are now £87 lower than fixed penalty notices issued by councils, prompting the LGA to demand an overhaul of sentencing guidelines.

Government increases Environment Agency enforcement budget by over 50 per cent to £15.6 million.

Environment Agency investigation secures arrests for environmental and money laundering offences linked to 21,000-tonne site.

Regulator approves 41 Indian recovery facilities while rejecting 13 that failed environmental standards under its new verification regime.

Landfill odour problems account for most serious incidents as EA reports challenges managing scale of issues