Environment Agency names 117 high-priority illegal waste sites in England
England’s waste watchdog listed 117 high-priority illegal dump sites, including 28 mega-heaps and a 281,000-tonne mound in Northwich. The scale points to a deep enforcement failure.
The Environment Agency has named 117 high-priority illegal waste sites in England, including 28 so-called super sites that each hold more than 20,000 tonnes of rubbish. At the top of the list is a 281,000-tonne heap of contaminated soil in Northwich, Cheshire, a stark sign of how far illegal dumping has been allowed to spread.
The new national watchlist, published on 22 May 2026, is meant to show communities where the agency is acting. But the Environment Agency has also said it cannot yet release full site details while investigations and possible enforcement action continue, and whether any activity is illegal will ultimately be decided by the courts. More site-specific information is expected by summer 2026, and the list will be updated every month.
The scale of the problem reaches well beyond a few headline sites. The agency says there are about 700 illegal waste sites in total across England, while its wider enforcement picture includes dumps already flagged in places such as Wigan and Sheffield, which together contain nearly 40,000 tonnes of waste. Other sites already in the public eye include Ranskill in Nottinghamshire, Faversham in Kent and Bracknell in Berkshire, which were reported to weigh in at more than 120,000 tonnes combined.
The government’s waste crime action plan, published in March 2026, says illegal waste costs the UK more than £1 billion a year and that only 27% of waste crimes are reported. That gap matters because the longer sites grow unchecked, the more likely local residents are to face contamination, fire risk and the kind of cleanup bills that can run into millions of pounds. Officials have said the state will directly fund clear-ups at some of the worst sites, including Sheffield, Wigan and Hyndburn, because councils and landowners often cannot afford the cost.
Environment Agency chief executive Philip Duffy told MPs there were eight active sites larger than 20,000 tonnes, in addition to six previously disclosed earlier in 2026, as the agency steps up prevention, detection and enforcement. The agency says it shut down 743 illegal waste sites in 2024/25, brought 229 sites into regulation, supported 37 Joint Unit for Waste Crime operations and helped secure 40 arrests.
The new watchlist lays bare a national enforcement failure that has let illegal dumps grow to super site scale before they were fully confronted. For the communities living near them, the question is no longer whether the waste disappeared out of sight, but how much damage will be left behind.
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