The UK government's new Waste Crime Action Plan will fund cleanup of three major illegal dumps in Wigan, Sheffield, and Lancashire totaling 48,000 tonnes. According to the government, normally, cleanup costs on private land fall to landowners, but taxpayers will cover the cleanup costs for the three major illegal dumps. Costs for the three new cleanups are unspecified pending assessments.
A site in Kidlington, Oxfordshire with 20,000 tonnes of waste is already being cleared at a cost of over £9 million. The plan does not include cleanup of a large site in Over, Gloucestershire with tens of thousands of tonnes of waste. Residents criticize the plan for not including cleanup of the Over, Gloucestershire site.
The Wigan site (Bickershaw) is partly owned by King Charles via the Duchy of Lancaster. The Duchy of Lancaster offered to hand over the land but denied cleanup responsibility. Locals near the Wigan site reported issues like school closures, rats, and smells.
Some locals expressed frustration over delays and lack of prosecutions regarding the Wigan site. New punishments for waste crime include vehicle seizure and crushing. New punishments for waste crime include up to five years in prison for illegal waste handling.
New punishments for waste crime include up to 20 hours of unpaid cleanup work. New punishments for waste crime include repayment of cleanup costs. New punishments for waste crime include penalty points on driving licenses, potentially leading to bans.
Penalty points on driving licenses for waste crime require legislation and are 'under consideration'. The Environment Agency (EA) will receive £45 million over three years. The Environment Agency (EA) will receive police-style powers to search, arrest, and seize assets without warrants.
Some measures like police-style powers for the EA would be implemented 'when parliamentary time allows'. The EA's increased enforcement is part of a 'crackdown'. 6 million.
26 million fly-tipping incidents in 2024-25. Fly-tipping incidents increased by 9% in 2024/25. The Environment Agency found 749 new illegal waste sites in 2024-25, double the previous year.
Other measures in the plan include landfill tax rebates for councils. Other measures in the plan include 'waste barcodes' to trace rubbish. New guidance advises local authorities on seizing and crushing vehicles used in fly-tipping, including using surveillance like CCTV and drones.
Councils carried out 572,000 enforcement actions in 2024/25, up 8% from the previous year. Councils issued 69,000 fixed penalty notices for fly-tipping in 2024/25. In 2024/25, 139 vehicles were seized by enforcement officers from 41 councils.
The government is making around £78 billion available to council budgets in England this year. The average court fine for fly-tipping was £539 in 2024/25. The average fixed penalty notice issued by councils for fly-tipping was £626 in 2024/25.
3 million to clear up last year. New on-the-spot fines for littering range from £65 to £500, doubling if not paid within 28 days. A 'rapid review to slash red tape' is being conducted.
Plans include fly-tippers covering seizure costs. The Local Government Association expressed concerns about court fines being lower than fixed penalties, suggesting potential enforcement challenges.