Waste crime is a serious crime - blighting local communities, harming the environment and undermining legitimate businesses.
For the first time, we have published a national watchlist of waste sites in England, as part of the Environment Agency’s enhanced response to tackle the issue.
It forms part of our enhanced intelligence gathering of the 117 sites to enable communities to see where we are acting.
This is a key commitment of the Environment Agency’s 10 Point Plan to tackle waste crime, a comprehensive strategy that places transparency and community engagement at its core, while encouraging the public to report any activity they see and are concerned about.
Waste crime is a growing and increasingly sophisticated threat, and tackling it demands a genuine partnership approach – government, regulators, local authorities and the public working together to spot criminal activity early and stamp it out.
We are sending a clear message: we will not tolerate illegal waste activity and will hunt down those behind it.
This blog answers the most frequently asked questions about our new watchlist.
Where exactly are these sites?
We have published information on 117 sites.
The watchlist forms part of our enhanced intelligence gathering to enable residents to see where we are acting - a key commitment of the Environment Agency’s 10 Point Plan to tackle waste crime.
It forms a central part of the Environment Agency’s 10 Point Plan to tackle waste crime, a comprehensive strategy that places transparency and community engagement at its core, while enlisting the public's help in identifying and reporting criminal activity
We cannot prejudice ongoing enquiries and any associated enforcement action and due to this will not be providing further breakdown of these sites. Whether any activity is illegal is ultimately a matter for the Courts to decide.
However, we recognise the need to support communities in accessing information which might affect them. We will share more details on individual sites as it becomes available – with a view to releasing any site-specific information, which is appropriate to share publicly, by summer 2026.
Are these all the sites that we are aware of?
There are currently around 700 known waste sites across England. This list covers 117 sites we consider to be high priority sites.
What is high priority?
A site is considered high priority because it is causing concerns within local communities, and the list enables residents to see where we are working now.
Accurate local information to effectively tackle waste crime is critical in protecting people and the environment from any potential risks.
If you have any information about any of the sites included in our watchlist, or suspect illegal waste activity anywhere, please call our 24-hour incident hotline on 0800 807060. You can also report information to call crime stoppers via their website.
What is the EA doing at these sites?
All reports of illegal waste sites are taken extremely seriously.
Sites are subject to investigations by our regulatory teams where they work through a range of options to deal with them.
For sites presenting lower levels of risk, we work to bring them into compliance through regulatory action and engagement.
Sites that present serious risks will receive our most intensive attention, which can include criminal investigations.
As these sites are part of ongoing investigations, we will not be publishing further information on them.
Will the watchlist be regularly updated?
We intend to update it every month as we recognise the need to support communities in accessing information which might affect them.
We will share more details on individual sites as it becomes available – with a view to releasing any additional information by summer 2026.
Will we be clearing all these sites?
We are not funded to clear waste sites.
However, in line with the polluter pays principle, we will always seek to ensure that those responsible for dumping waste in our towns and cities pay for the cost of cleaning it up.
Why are you clearing up some waste sites?
The sites announced by the government for clean-up were chosen due to a specific criteria, which includes posing a serious environmental risk and impact on the local community. This was a decision made by the government.
What are we doing to tackle waste crime across England?
We do not underestimate the real impacts on local communities across England affected by waste crime sites.
In March, we launched our 10 Point Plan to tackle waste crime, with action to establish a new Intelligence Unit, move faster to shut down illegal waste sites and make greater use of enforcement tools.
This forms part of a focused, sustained programme to strengthen prevention, improve detection and deliver more consistent enforcement.
However, this cannot be addressed by us alone – with the public and other law enforcement partners, we can make lasting progress against waste crime.
The Government is cracking down on waste criminals with it new Waste Crime Action Plan setting out a zero-tolerance approach to put an end to the damage they cause. The plan sends a clear message: dump illegally and you will face the full consequences.
What can the public do if a site in my area is not on the list – or they have more information about one of the sites?
Accurate local information to effectively tackle waste crime is critical in protecting people and the environment from any potential risks.
If the public has any information about any of the sites included in our watchlist, or suspect illegal waste activity anywhere, they can call our 24-hour incident hotline on 0800 807060.
They can also report information anonymously to Crimestoppers via their website.
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