Morning, Wednesday, 25th November 2026
Online
This conference will examine next steps for tackling waste crime in England.
The agenda will look at implementation of the Government’s Waste Crime Action Plan, with the Prime Minister recently announcing measures aiming to tackle organised waste crime, including expanded Environment Agency capacity, deployment of drones and advanced surveillance, strengthened roles for police and the National Crime Agency, and increased fines. Areas for discussion include ongoing reform of waste exemptions and carrier regimes, the phased introduction of mandatory digital waste tracking - a legal requirement for waste receiving sites from October 2026 - enforcement powers and capacity, cross-agency coordination, industry readiness, and the impact of waste crime on communities, landowners and the environment.
It will bring stakeholders and policymakers together to discuss practical implications of measures to prevent, enforce against and remediate illegal waste activity, including the zero-tolerance approach to organised dumping, fly-tipping, landfill tax fraud and the misuse of exemptions and waste carrier regimes - with the introduction of mayor-led regional enforcement models designed to strengthen cross-agency responses and accelerate disruption of organised offenders.
With the EA’s national waste crime heatmaps published in May 2025 and its National Waste Crime Survey of July 2025 estimating that around a fifth of all waste in England is handled illegally, with most incidents going unreported, sessions will consider concerns around under-reporting, intelligence gaps and the challenges of developing a comprehensive understanding of the scale and nature of offending. This includes what is needed to translate new powers and funding into effective enforcement, protecting compliant operators from being undercut, and addressing the consequential burden of illegal dumping. Delegates will discuss the Government’s commitment to fund clean-up of three major illegal waste sites, and what this means for remediation policy, cost recovery and for affected communities.
Implementation of the Waste Crime Action Plan
The agenda will assess practical implications of the Action Plan and related reform for legitimate operators, and how they can strengthen accountability across the waste supply chain while keeping requirements on compliant businesses proportionate.
Overall, areas for discussion include:
- delivery: zero-tolerance framework - priorities across the prevention, enforcement and remediation pillars - accelerating clean-up of the worst sites - government-funded remediation
- regulatory reform:
- closing loopholes in the waste exemptions regime without displacing criminality elsewhere - protecting compliant businesses from being undercut by illegal operators
- implementing Defra’s proposed reform to strengthen controls, improve regulatory oversight and prevent misuse of exemptions
- the move from carrier, broker and dealer registration to a permitting-based system - proportionate requirements for legitimate operators
- digital waste tracking: phased rollout and commencement from October 2026 for waste receiving sites - improving traceability and oversight - industry readiness and expectations for effective data use
- compliance and accountability: burdens on SMEs and smaller operators - relationship with wider producer-responsibility requirements - oversight arising from new tracking and data-sharing arrangements
Legal framework, enforcement & coordination
Further sessions will look at the legal and enforcement framework, and whether new powers, funding and coordination can deliver effective disruption of organised offenders. Discussion will examine implications of a strengthened enforcement approach on concerns raised by the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee in 2025 regarding gaps in current responses, questions around coordination, prioritisation and the ability of enforcement bodies to deliver sustained disruption.
Overall, areas for discussion include:
- enforcement powers:
- proposed extension of EA powers for faster investigation, inspection and prosecution - proposals to grant police-style powers of arrest, search and seizure
- expanding frontline officers - enhancing the role of police and the NCA - deploying drones and advanced surveillance technologies to support faster investigation and disruption
- concerns around capacity and effective disruption of organised offenders - investment in mapping, more rigorous licence screening, and data analytics
- economic drivers: alignment with landfill tax policy - tackling landfill tax fraud and waste miss-description - addressing the financial incentives behind illegal disposal
- capacity, coordination and technology: the expanded Joint Unit for Waste Crime - cross-agency work with police forces, HMRC and local authorities - integration with mayor-led regional enforcement
- prosecution and sentencing: defining responsibilities across regulators, councils and enforcement bodies - penalties and use of available powers - disruption of operators and pursuit of criminal assets
Industry readiness & operational implications
The agenda also considers what reform means in practice for the businesses that produce, carry and receive waste.
Overall, areas for discussion include:
- preparing for digital tracking: readiness among waste receivers, smaller operators and collectors - October 2026 and later implementation phases - systems, cost and data quality
- wider obligations: interaction with producer-responsibility requirements - end-to-end accountability across the waste chain
- working with regulators: intelligence-sharing and reporting - maintaining fair competition between compliant and illegal operators - protecting a level playing field for legitimate businesses
Community & environmental impact
Delegates will also examine the logistical and environmental impact of waste crime, including the burdens it places on communities, landowners and public services that deal with its consequences. Discussion will reflect on findings from the Environment Agency’s waste crime heatmaps on the geographic spread of suspected offending, and how improved reporting and intelligence can support targeted intervention.
Overall, areas for discussion include:
- legacy sites and clean-up: remediation of the worst illegal sites - responsibility for clean-up costs and cost recovery - preventing repeat offending and supporting affected communities
- burdens on landowners and farmers: liability for waste dumped on private land - the case for simpler, single-point reporting - support and indemnification for victims
- public health and environment: air, water and soil contamination - persistent fly-tipping in urban areas - alignment with circular economy and environmental improvement objectives
- incentives for prevention: economic drivers and landfill tax differentials - structural measures to reduce illegal disposal - improved reporting and intelligence-sharing
All delegates will be able to contribute to the output of the conference, which will be shared with parliamentary, ministerial, departmental and regulatory offices, and more widely. This includes the full proceedings and additional articles submitted by delegates. As well as key stakeholders, those already due to attend include a parliamentary pass-holder from the House of Commons and officials from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Department for Energy Security and Net Zero; Environment Agency; Office for Environmental Protection; Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs, NI; Isle of Man Government; and the Welsh Government.
