The Environment Agency has warned landowners and owners of commercial property that they are at risk from waste criminals illegally dumping waste on their premises.

Criminals operating in the waste industry cause damage to the environment, distress affected communities and undercut legitimate waste businesses.

Waste criminals may offer cash to store waste on land or in property, promising to remove it later. Or they may just dump it illegally.

Dumped waste causes contamination and is a major fire risk. Property owners will have to pay for its lawful removal and their insurance premiums may increase.

How to protect yourself

Check your empty land and property regularly and make sure they are secure 

Carry out rigorous checks on prospective new tenants

Make sure you see adequate identification documents and secure a down payment from a traceable bank account.

Use freely available information such as Companies House Beta. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk

If you are renting to a newly formed company, make sure you meet and initially deal with the Company Director.

Investigate the status of the new company’s finances to ensure they are strong.

Check if the new company has a website and look to see if contact details match those you have been given.

Ensure you know what business they intend to carry out on your premises.

If it is a waste business, the operator must have the right environmental permits from the Environment Agency. If you plan to carry out any waste activities yourself, you will also need to have the right environmental permits for your land to be used in this way. gov.uk/guidance/waste-environmental-permits

You will also need planning permission from your local council: gov.uk/find-local-council

If they are moving waste, they need a waste carriers’ registration, which you can check on our public register. https://environment.data.gov.uk/public-register/view/search-waste-carriers-brokers

Be cautious if your prospective new tenants arrive on foot and not in a vehicle.

Make sure you check out the details of any witness to the lease agreements, to be sure they are plausible and traceable.

Secure a down payment

Regularly check tenants are operating properlyAny of the following could indicate they are not operating the business they said:

More lorry movements that you would expect for their business

Activities on site at strange hours of the day and night

Evidence of unusual odours and/or pests

Complaints from adjacent tenants about their new neighbours.

Report suspected illegal activity

If you discover anyone in the act of dumping waste on your land or in your property, do not approach them as they may be dangerous. Call the Police on 999

If you are approached to store waste for someone else, discover waste has been dumped in your property or on your land, report it to the Environment Agency incident hotline number (24 hour service): 0800 80 70 60