Waste crime crackdown welcomed, but Cornwall farmers still pay

Wake up to a lorry-load of someone else’s rubbish dumped across your field, and the law still expects you to pay for the clean-up. That is the reality the Country Land and Business Association says has been left untouched by the government’s latest promise to go after the gangs behind organised waste crime.

What the government has announced

Prime Minister Andy Burnham set out a new package of measures on 19 August aimed at the criminal networks running illegal waste sites, in what Number 10 is calling part of a wider drive to “bring hope back to Britain’s communities”. The plan brings together the Environment Agency, police, the National Crime Agency, local councils and regional mayors, with a promise of more drone surveillance, tougher intelligence sharing and a bigger push to seize the cash, cars and property bought with the proceeds of illegal dumping.

Andy Burnham said the sites had “blighted communities for too long” and that the days of “making easy money out of waste are over”. Environment Secretary Angela Eagle, who will chair a new Waste Crime Crackdown Group bringing regulators and law enforcement together, said large-scale illegal waste sites are “fuelled by serious, organised crime” and that the government intends to “use the full force of the law to tackle it and root it out at source”.

Fines for those who dump or mishandle waste illegally are set to rise sharply, from a current maximum of £300 up to £5,000, with prosecution and prison still on the table for the most serious offences. New powers under the Crime and Policing Act 2026 are also expected to speed up the confiscation of assets bought with the proceeds of waste crime. West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester will be the first areas to trial a region-led approach, with mayors and council leaders given a direct role in coordinating councils, police and regulators.

Alongside the enforcement measures, the government has committed to funding the clean-up of three more of the country’s worst illegal waste sites, in Kent, Surrey and West Yorkshire, which between them are estimated to hold around 22,000 tonnes of dumped waste and affect roughly 2,900 families living nearby.

The CLA’s cautious welcome

Ann Maidment, South West Director of the CLA, said the organisation has “argued for years” that organised waste gangs should be treated the same as any other organised criminals, and called stronger police involvement, better intelligence sharing and the seizure of vehicles and assets “steps in the right direction”.

But she was clear that the promises will only mean something if they change what happens on the ground. “Our members have heard promises of crackdowns before, and fines and new powers will only deter criminals if they believe they will actually be caught,” she said. “We will judge this by what happens on the ground, from prosecutions to vehicle seizures and the confiscation of criminal assets.”

The ‘glaring injustice’ left unaddressed

The sharpest part of the CLA’s response is aimed at what the new package does not fix. Under current law, a landowner can find waste dumped on their land overnight and still be left personally responsible for clearing it, on top of having been the victim of the crime in the first place.

“There is still a glaring injustice for farmers who can wake up to a lorry-load of waste dumped on their land and then be left paying to clear up somebody else’s crime,” Ann said. “Innocent landowners should not be left carrying that cost.”

It is a problem that has followed farmers and landowners across the countryside for years, and one the CLA has continued to press on regardless of which government is in office. This latest crackdown targets the criminals doing the dumping. Whether it does anything for the person who finds the mess on their own doorstep is, for now, still an open question.