Environment Agency Opens Consultation on Revised Waste Charges
On 11 November 2024, the Environment Agency (EA) began a consultation to gather input on proposed updates to waste management fees and charges. This consultation, open to stakeholders across the waste, water, and agricultural sectors, will run for ten weeks, concluding at midnight on 20 January 2025. The proposed changes are intended to improve funding for regulatory enforcement and strengthen the fight against waste crime, which currently inflicts an estimated £1 billion of damages on England’s economy each year.
Key Proposals for Waste Charges
The EA has outlined four main changes in its proposals, anticipated to take effect from April 2025:
- New Waste Levy for Increased Enforcement. The agency plans to introduce a waste levy to boost enforcement activities, with an aim to increase intervention efforts by approximately 30%.
- Updated Hourly Rates for Regulatory Activities. New hourly rates are proposed to ensure that the Environment Agency can recover costs associated with its regulatory services.
- Intervention Fees for Unauthorised Waste Operators. A specific fee will be implemented to cover the costs of intervention and oversight where operators are found to lack the necessary authorisation.
- Registration and Compliance Fees for Waste Exemptions. For farms, the EA suggests introducing a reduced compliance fee for a set of 15 common on-farm waste exemptions, aimed at addressing waste management in agricultural settings.
Focus on Waste Crime Prevention
These proposals are part of the EA’s broader efforts to address the increasing incidence of waste crime across England. In August 2024, the agency issued an alert to landowners, advising them to secure their premises against illegal waste dumping, a problem that continues to escalate. According to a 2023 survey, 85% of farmers and landowners reported issues with small-scale fly-tipping, while 20% faced large-scale dumping on their properties.
The EA encourages all parties impacted by these proposals to review and submit feedback by the deadline to ensure their views are considered in shaping the updated fee structure and enforcement strategies.