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August 2025 - Central Government

Only a quarter of all waste crime incidents are reported, new survey finds: New research from the Environment Agency claims just over a quarter (27%) of all waste crime incidents are reported, leaving a staggering three quarters of incidents unreported. This is a slight improvement on last year’s figure, where only 24% of all waste crimes were deemed reported. Landowners and farmers are now being urged to report all waste crime incidents in order to help the Environment Agency cut down on the illegal deposits.

The data comes from the fourth wave of the National Waste Crime Survey, which was conducted in 2025 by SYSTRA consultants and commissioned by the Deputy Director for Waste and Resources Regulation at the Environment Agency. The anonymous online survey was carried out across February this year and collated information from 764 respondents across three target groups; landowners/farmers; the waste industry and service providers. It aims to gather insights on the impact and scale of waste crimes and its potential victims to help them prepare a strategic approach to tackling the problem.

Almost three in five (57%) landowners have been affected by waste crime, yet only one tenth (12%) reported the most recent incidents which had a negative impact upon them. This lack of action may indicate that landowners and farmers see little benefit in reporting incidents as they are not dealt with effectively, and if the Environment Agency are not adequately resourced to tackle the problem. Nearly half (48%) of the respondents agreed that the Environment Agency do not have the sufficient resources to cope with the issue, with only 16% believing the contrary.

It is alleged that there are networks of organised crime groups that are dumping rubbish collected by illegal means in order to benefit financially. Estimates coming from the survey suggest that just over a third (35%) of all waste crime incidents are committed by organised crime groups. Furthermore, it uncovered that a fifth (20%) of all rubbish produced is managed illegally at one point (at least) as it journeys through the supply chain.

Not only do waste crime incidents influence landowners and farmers, but they also have a hugely negative effect on the waste industry as a whole due to the significant cost implications. Just over half (52%) of waste industry respondents claim they have been subjected to losses in excess of £50,000 due to illegal waste sites, just over two fifths (44%) say they’ve been impacted by illegal waste exports and a third (32%) from large scale fly-tipping.

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