The West Midlands and Yorkshire had the highest report totals in 2025, but the heatmaps include duplicate calls and do not record confirmed offences.
The Environment Agency (EA) has published new heatmaps showing the general areas from which 10,238 reports of suspected waste crime were made in England during 2025.
The West Midlands accounted for the largest raw total, with 1,542 reports, followed by Yorkshire with 1,068, according to an announcement from the EA and Defra.
The agency said the maps would contribute to its intelligence on waste crime and help it identify areas where enforcement activity may be required.
Philip Duffy, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, said intelligence from the public remained “vital”, adding: “Every piece of information helps us build the picture we need to act faster, intervene earlier.”
What the heatmaps measure
The data covers reports made directly to the EA’s incident hotline between 1 January and 31 December 2025.
However, the agency’s methodology states that the dataset includes duplicate reports where the same incident or site was reported more than once. It also includes matters outside the EA’s direct remit, such as smaller-scale fly-tipping subsequently referred to local authorities.
The maps show the general location from which people made reports rather than the precise location of the suspected activity.
Consequently, the 10,238 total does not represent 10,238 separate sites, unique incidents or confirmed offences. The published regional totals are also not adjusted for population or differences in reporting behaviour.
The first set of heatmaps, published in May 2025, covered 2023 and 2024 together and recorded 16,773 reports across the two-year period. As no separate annual total was provided for 2024, the latest figures do not establish whether reporting increased or decreased year on year.
Underreporting and enforcement capacity
The government said an estimated 27% of waste crime is reported to the Environment Agency.
That estimate comes from the 2025 National Waste Crime Survey, which gathered responses from 764 people working in the waste industry, landowners and farmers, and service providers.
Respondents were self-selecting, meaning the figure represents their assessment of reporting levels rather than a measured national detection rate. It should not be used to extrapolate a total number of offences from the heatmap data.
The survey also found that 16% of respondents considered the EA adequately resourced to tackle waste crime, while 48% disagreed. Eleven per cent considered the agency’s measures effective at deterring offending. These figures similarly reflect respondents’ perceptions.
Enforcement capacity has been subject to wider scrutiny. In March, the House of Commons Public Accounts Committee said environmental regulators were “spread too thin” and asked Defra to demonstrate that regulators had sufficient resources to deliver reforms while carrying out their existing responsibilities.
The government’s Waste Crime Action Plan committed an additional £45 million for EA waste-crime enforcement over three financial years, on top of a previously announced £5.6 million increase for 2025–26.
The EA’s latest corporate scorecard says it stopped activity at 224 high-risk illegal waste sites during 2025–26, against an annual target of 90. This is an operational performance measure and is not directly comparable with the number of hotline reports or prosecutions.
The government has also announced greater use of drones, increased involvement from police and mayors, and a new Waste Crime Crackdown Group. West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester are expected to be the first areas to use the region-led enforcement approach.
From 1 October, digital waste tracking will become mandatory in England and Wales for licensed or permitted waste-receiving sites. The initial phase will record incoming waste rather than provide full end-to-end tracking, which is due to be extended to carriers, brokers and dealers from October 2027.
