Press release: Sting targets 30 illegal waste sites across Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire

Around 30 illegal waste sites will get unannounced visits from the Environment Agency today in a series of raids across Lincolnshire and Northamptonshire.

It’s the biggest sting of its kind ever carried out in a single day across the area.

Officers will follow up on specific reports of waste being burned illegally by commercial ventures. This kind of activity can blight communities, damage the environment and undercut legitimate businesses – impacts the Environment Agency is working hard to prevent.

EA teams will provide advice and guidance to legitimate businesses, and will make follow-up visits to sites where criminal and illegal activities are confirmed.

Mark Rumble, Enforcement team leader with the Environment Agency, said:

Waste criminals like those we’re tracking down today flout the law and put our communities and our environment at risk. That’s why we take waste crime extremely seriously and will do everything we can to bring those responsible to account.

These visits have been organised as a direct result of reports from local people, so we’d urge anyone with information about illegal activities to call our 24 hour incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60 or report it anonymously to Crimestoppers.

Together with legitimate businesses and local communities, we can tackle crime in the waste sector, make a difference for our environment and make a better society for everyone.

Evidence gathered from the visits will be used against those breaking the law. Further enforcement action could include work with our partners such as local authorities, police and HMRC to prevent and disrupt crime, the serving of notices to have waste removed from land, and prosecution of offenders. If convicted of illegal waste activity, offenders face extensive fines and even prison sentences.

More information on the requirements for disposing of business or commercial waste can be found on gov.uk.

Illegal waste activity is estimated to have cost more than £600m in 2015 in England alone.

Over recent years, the Environment Agency has made great strides in tackling waste crime. Between 2011 and 2017 we stopped over 5400 illegal waste sites. An average of 2 illegal waste sites are shut down each day.