36 arrests since April, drones in the air, and a new group formed to go after the gangs
What happened
On 4 November 2026, the Environment Secretary, Dame Angela Eagle, brought together police, regulators and local leaders to form a new Waste Crime Crackdown Group. The group includes ministers, police, mayors and local authorities. Its stated aim is to shut down organised waste gangs, by identifying the weaknesses in the waste system that criminals exploit and removing the blockers to fixing them. At the first meeting, members were to discuss increasing enforcement against the gangs profiting from illegal dumping, and improving how they share intelligence. The Environment Secretary planned to ask the group to examine where enforcement powers could go further. The announcement also sets out what has already happened. Since April 2026, there have been 36 arrests, with prosecutions, investigations and raids taking place across the country. Environment Agency officers are using more drones to find criminals. Mayors are being given a bigger role in tackling waste crime locally, and fines for illegal dumping have increased. Two notorious illegal waste sites, at Kidlington and Hoad's Wood, have been completely cleared, and police have arrested suspects while investigations continue. Work continues on others, including Bolton House Road in Wigan and Midland Road in Bradford. Dame Angela Eagle said: "For too long communities have been left to live with the consequences of waste crime. I am changing that... But these are organised criminals and we must keep up the pressure to disrupt their operations." Philip Duffy, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, said getting organised criminals out of the waste system "needs everyone to work together: police, regulators and local government", adding that "in recent months we have toughened our approach and it's paying off already, with more than 30 arrests, assets seized and permits stripped from unscrupulous operators".
Why this matters
Fly-tipping is often filed under "nuisance". That badly understates it. At the small end, it is a mattress dumped in a lay-by. At the large end, it is organised crime: gangs who collect waste for a fee, promise to dispose of it properly, then tip tens of thousands of tonnes onto land they do not own, and disappear. The money works because legitimate disposal costs money and illegal dumping does not. The gangs pocket the difference. The clean-up bill then falls on landowners, councils and ultimately taxpayers, and the sites themselves can leach into soil and watercourses for years. The government's framing is that this is what happens "when enforcement fails and criminals are allowed to exploit weakness in the system, leaving communities to pay the price". There is a specific risk worth naming for ordinary households, because it catches people out regularly. If you pay someone to take your rubbish away and they fly-tip it, you can be the one who gets fined. The legal duty of care on your waste does not vanish because you handed it to a man with a van. People have received fixed penalties after their household waste turned up dumped in a field, traced back by an envelope with their address on it.
What the evidence actually says
There are a few things to hold in balance here. The enforcement figures are genuine but modest in scale. 36 arrests since April is real progress on a historically weak position, and the press release and the Environment Agency's own quote are consistent with one another, with the EA chief executive referring to "more than 30 arrests". But against a problem involving organised criminal networks and hundreds of thousands of fly-tipping incidents recorded annually in England, nobody should read 36 arrests as the problem being solved. The measures listed are a mixture of in-force and planned, and the difference matters. Fines of up to £5,000 for rogue operators who dump waste illegally or fail to treat it correctly are described as in place. Tightening of Waste Permit Exemptions, so that only low-risk waste activities benefit, is described as done. But the power for the Environment Agency to confiscate cash, cars, houses and other assets bought with the proceeds of waste crime is described as planned - the government is "planning to give" it. That is an intention, not an existing power. The new group is also, in itself, a coordination body rather than a power. It identifies weaknesses, shares intelligence and removes blockers. Those are useful functions, especially where waste crime falls between the Environment Agency, the police and councils - a gap criminals have exploited for years. But a group is only as good as what it changes. The honest assessment is that the clear-up of Kidlington and Hoad's Wood is a concrete result, the asset confiscation power would be the genuinely significant change if it arrives, and the rest is the slow work of making several organisations act as one.
Practical advice
The most useful thing in this story for most people is how to avoid being caught out yourself. Before you let anyone take rubbish away, check they are a registered waste carrier. You can do this free on the Environment Agency's public register - search "check a waste carrier" on GOV.UK. Ask for their registration number and look it up. A legitimate business will not mind. Get a receipt or waste transfer note that shows who took the waste, when, and where it is going. If your waste is later dumped, that paperwork is your defence. Be suspicious of very cheap cash clearances advertised on social media. If someone is charging far less than everyone else, ask yourself where the waste is going. The cheapness is usually the fly-tipping. For larger jobs, such as a house clearance or building work, check that your builder or skip firm is disposing of waste legally and ask where it goes. If you see fly-tipping, report it. Report it to your local council if it is on public land, and to the Environment Agency's incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60 for larger or more serious incidents, including anything that looks organised or involves hazardous material. If you can safely note a vehicle registration, time and location, that is exactly the sort of intelligence the new group says it wants shared. Do not confront people dumping waste. These can be organised criminals. Note what you can from a safe distance and report it. Finally, if you own land, keep access points secured. Gated and blocked field entrances are a genuine deterrent, and rural insurers often have practical guidance.
What to know
On 4 November 2026 the Environment Secretary formed a Waste Crime Crackdown Group bringing together ministers, police, mayors and local authorities, with the aim of shutting down organised waste gangs and improving intelligence sharing. Since April 2026 there have been 36 arrests, alongside prosecutions, raids and more use of drones by Environment Agency officers. The illegal sites at Kidlington and Hoad's Wood have been fully cleared. Work continues at Bolton House Road in Wigan and Midland Road in Bradford. Be clear on what is in force and what is not. Fines of up to £5,000 and tightened waste permit exemptions are in place. The power for the Environment Agency to confiscate cash, cars and houses bought with the proceeds of waste crime is planned, not yet granted. For households, the key risk is your own duty of care. Check any waste carrier on the free Environment Agency register, keep a receipt, and avoid suspiciously cheap cash clearances. Report fly-tipping to your council, or to 0800 80 70 60 for serious incidents, and never confront those responsible. Sources: Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, "'We must keep up the pressure': Environment Secretary forms new Waste Crime Crackdown Group", 4 November 2026, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/we-must-keep-up-the-pressure-environment-secretary-forms-new-waste-crime-crackdown-group; GOV.UK, "Check if a waste carrier is registered", accessed 4 November 2026, https://environment.data.gov.uk/public-register/view/search-waste-carriers-brokers; GOV.UK, "Report an environmental incident", accessed 4 November 2026, https://www.gov.uk/report-an-environmental-incident This article is for general information and is not legal, financial or medical advice. For questions about your own health or medicines, speak to a doctor, pharmacist or other qualified healthcare professional.
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