Fly-tipping an ‘organised criminal enterprise’, report warns
© Adobe Stock Farmers and rural businesses are being left to shoulder the cost of a growing waste crime problem that has become a lucrative criminal industry, according to a new report.
Published by Future Countryside and the National Rural Crime Network (NRCN), Breaking the Cycle: Tackling Fly-Tipping and Waste Crime – A Roadmap for Reform warns that fly-tipping and waste crime are causing widespread damage to the countryside while costing the UK economy hundreds of millions of pounds each year.
The report argues that the current system for tackling waste crime is fragmented and fails victims, particularly farmers and landowners who are often forced to pay for the removal of illegally dumped waste.
See also: Fly‑tipping law change to protect farmers blocked
NRCN chairman Tim Passmore said: “Waste crime and fly-tipping is not low-level nuisance offending – it is serious, organised criminality that is damaging our environment, hitting rural communities hard and leaving innocent victims to foot the bill.”
A growing problem
Official figures show local authorities in England dealt with more than 1.26m fly-tipping incidents in 2024-25, up 9% on the previous year.
However, the report says the true scale is likely to be much higher because incidents on private land and many unreported cases are not included in national data.
Researchers found increasing evidence of organised criminal gangs exploiting weaknesses in regulation and enforcement to generate significant illegal profits.
At least 11 large illegal waste “super-sites” have been identified across England, including one in Cheshire estimated to contain 280,000t of waste.
Despite existing legal powers, enforcement remains limited.
In addition, only about 31% of reported incidents are investigated, while more than half of investigations result in no further action.
Just 13 custodial sentences were handed down for fly-tipping offences in England during 2024-25.
Recommendations
The report’s recommendations include:
- A single national reporting system for waste crime incidents
- Stronger regulation of waste carriers and brokers
- Better intelligence-sharing between enforcement agencies
- Tougher action against organised criminal networks
- Greater accountability for local authority enforcement activity
- Reform to prevent victims bearing clean-up costs.
It also calls for a comprehensive national database covering all waste crime incidents, including those on private land, and proposes a new waste crime prevention act.
The report comes as ministers face growing pressure to tackle waste crime, following the government’s waste crime action plan and an ongoing House of Lords inquiry into the issue.