Farmers urged to protect land from waste criminals this winter
Source: gov.uk (2025-12-04)

Large-scale waste dumping in East Anglia, costing farmers more than £6,000 per incident to clear. Criminal gangs targeting farmland with lorry loads of waste.

Farmers and landowners across East Anglia are being asked to stay vigilant this winter as waste criminals continue to dump lorry loads of illegal waste on rural land under cover of darkness.

The Environment Agency is working in partnership with local police, the National Farmers Union (NFU), the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) and local authorities to tackle these criminals. Offenders are saving thousands of pounds in disposal costs whilst leaving landowners facing bills of £6,000 or more to clear each load.

Criminals are forcing their way past locked gates to dump shredded waste on carefully selected sites including farmers’ tracks and fields, lanes, industrial land, parkland and laybys.

Peter Lennard, an environment officer for the Environment Agency, said:

We need farmers and landowners to stay vigilant this winter, particularly with darker evenings. We advise they carry out regular inspections of their land, identify hidden spots where heavy goods vehicles can gain easy access, and put in roadblocks and CCTV cameras where possible.

Waste crime pollutes the environment, undercuts legitimate business, and significantly affects farmers and rural communities.

Peter Ewin, rural advisor for CLA East, said:

Illegal waste dumping is a blight on our countryside and a burden on rural businesses. The CLA urges landowners to take proactive steps heading into the darker months to secure their land, report incidents swiftly, and understand their legal responsibilities.

George Gittus, NFU regional board vice-chair for the east of England, and a farmer near Bury St Edmunds, said:

The dumping of waste is a huge issue across the region, damaging the environment and seriously disrupting farmers’ work. Industrial-scale incidents can cost individual farmers tens of thousands of pounds in clear-up costs.

The Environment Agency urges farmers and landowners to report any suspicious activity, including more lorry movements than expected for a business, activities on site at strange hours of the day and night, and evidence of unusual odours and/or pests. Anyone who has information about illegal waste activity should contact the Environment Agency hotline on xx-xxxx-xxxx, so we catch these criminals and protect our rural communities.

Background:
- A spokesperson is available for interview.
- These incidents form part of Operation Eagle, the Environment Agency’s investigation into large-scale illegal waste deposits across the south-east and east of England.
- For more tips about how to avoid waste criminals read our blogs:
Property and Landowners – how to avoid waste criminals – Creating a better place (https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fenvironmentagency.blog.gov.uk%2F2023%2F06%2F15%2Fproperty-and-landowners-how-to-avoid-waste-criminals-2%2F&data=05%7C02%7CAndrew.Turton1%40defra.gov.uk%7Cf0432f05206045a749e408de33139a3e%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C639004356617031065%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=wd8Cy9mooOi4%2FUosjH2rUDkmodLvuTkeM%2BPp6PtsDf0%3D&reserved=0)

Farmers – Protect yourselves from waste criminals – Creating a better place (https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fenvironmentagency.blog.gov.uk%2F2024%2F07%2F17%2Ffarmers-protect-yourselves-from-waste-criminals%2F%23%3A~%3Atext%3DRestrict%2520access%2520points%2520to%2520your%2Cto%2520why%2520it%2527s%2520not%2520needed.&data=05%7C02%7CAndrew.Turton1%40defra.gov.uk%7Cf0432f05206045a749e408de33139a3e%7C770a245002274c6290c74e38537f1102%7C0%7C0%7C639004356617060160%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=ZOplC6VNZZolR8tlxG4C5sljMS0V28BwWz%2FwT2lQh58%3D&reserved=0)

Environment Agency action on waste crime
- Waste crime undermines legitimate businesses and costs England’s economy around £1 billion a year in damages.
- The Environment Agency continues to work with compliant businesses and operators to turn the tide on waste crime and protect the environment and communities.
- In 2024/25, the Environment Agency successfully stopped activity at 743 illegal waste sites, of which 143 were high risk.
- In 2020, the Environment Agency established the Joint Unit for Waste Crime, a multi-agency taskforce to share intelligence and operational capability and capacity to tackle serious and organised criminality in the waste sector.
- Through the Joint Unit for Waste Crime, the Environment Agency works with police forces, the National Crime Agency, HMRC, the National Fire Chiefs Council and devolved bodies to counter the most serious offenders.
- Last year, the Environment Agency announced a new Economic Crime Unit within its National Environmental Crime Unit, created to target the money and assets of waste criminals.
- At the end of 2024/25, there were 21 ongoing money laundering investigations that we were providing support on. It also secured five account freezing orders and one cash detention – £17.9k forfeited, £2.9 million frozen – and finalised 13 confiscation orders totalling £1.55 million.
- The Environment Agency is part of the National Fly-Tipping Prevention Group, which seeks to identify good practice in preventing and tackling fly-tipping and to advise government on problems and potential solutions regarding fly-tipped waste.
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