Regulators failing to tackle fly-tipping by organised crime groups, peers say

The Environment Agency, police and other agencies are failing to tackle fly-tipping by organised crime groups, a cross-party group of peers has found.

In a letter to Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds, the Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee called on the Government to set up an independent root and branch review of serious and organised waste crime.

The committee argued that while fly-tipping is causing significant environmental, social and economic costs of around £1 billion every year, it is being drastically under-prioritised.

The letter said: “We are deeply concerned about the demonstrable inadequacy of the current approach to tackling waste crime.”

The peers also said they were “unimpressed with the lack of interest shown by the police in fulfilling their role by bringing to bear their expertise in tackling serious and organised waste crime”.

It comes after the committee held a short inquiry which heard from representatives of community groups, as well as the Environment Agency, the Government, officials, police and crime commissioners and waste management specialists.

While the group of peers welcomed the Government’s commitment to transitioning to a circular economy to help eliminate waste crime, it also called for a host of reforms to fight the issue.

This included establishing a joint unit for waste crime to improve collaboration between bodies at a local level, especially local government and policing and the handling of reports or sharing of intelligence.

The peers also called for the Treasury to review rules on managing public money preventing the Environment Agency to divert resources from its regulatory work to crime enforcement as well as to maintain additional funding provided to the Environment Agency next year.

They said ministers should fully assess the risks that landfill tax reform will increase other forms of waste crime and lead to the abandonment of landfill sites.

And the Environment Department (Defra) was urged to develop interim targets with a comprehensive set of metrics to measure progress.

Committee chairwoman Baroness Sheehan said: “During our inquiry we heard that over 38 million tonnes of waste (enough to fill Wembley Stadium 35 times) is being illegally dumped each year mainly by established organised crime groups involved in drugs, firearms, money laundering and modern slavery.

“Despite the scale and seriousness of the crimes, raised by the members of the public in many cases, we have found multiple failings by the Environment Agency and other agencies, from slow responses to repeated public reports (as in the case of Hoad’s Wood, Kent) through to a woeful lack of successful convictions.

“The Government and other agencies must act now on our recommendations, including starting an independent review. There is no time to waste.”

The PA news agency has contacted Defra for comment.

An Environment Agency spokesperson said: “We recognise the recommendations of the report and are committed to doing more.

“Last year alone, our dedicated teams shut down 462 illegal waste sites and prevented nearly 34,000 tonnes of waste being illegally exported – showing that we can make real change despite the challenges involved.

“With additional officers, and working closely with other partners, we are bringing these criminals to justice and stopping illegal activity through tough enforcement action and prosecution.

“The public can also help to stop waste criminals by reporting any suspicious waste activities to our anonymous helpline.”