Skip to main content
N I Direct government services

Main navigation

  • Home
  • News
  • Contacts
  • Help
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • RSS

Breadcrumb

  1. Home
  2. Environment and the outdoors
  3. Environmental quality in your area

Report waste crime

Dumping or burning waste where it's not allowed, or allowing others to do so, is a criminal offence. Find out more about waste crime and how you can report it.

Waste crime

You can report illegal waste activities to the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) Enforcement Branch. You can contact them anonymously or leave your details.

  • NIEA Enforcement Branch

Waste crime is the illegal disposal or management of waste. It is a significant problem in Northern Ireland with tens of thousands of tonnes of waste being illegally disposed of on many occasions.

Larger and smaller scale disposal (also known as 'flytipping') blights the landscape, damages the environment and is expensive to clean up.

Criminals are often involved in illegal waste activities – from waste collection and supplying skips to illegal landfilling and the burning of waste to get rid of it. Their motive is making money. They usually charge the legal going rate to collect and transport waste and then dispose of it illegally and pocket the profits.

Why waste crime matters

If it is not handled properly, waste can cause serious pollution of the environment – air, land and water. This can be harmful to not only human but animal health too.

Criminal waste activity also has an economic impact on legitimate businesses involved in waste disposal. These companies are unable to compete effectively in the waste industry because they are undercut by criminals.

It affects everyone because there are huge costs involved in ‘cleaning up’ illegal waste, which means that less money is available for things like hospitals and schools.

Penalties for waste crime

The Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) takes waste crime very seriously. Criminals involved in illegal waste activities can receive heavy fines of up to £50,000 and be sentenced to six months imprisonment per charge.

At Crown Court level, the fines are unlimited and criminals can be sentenced to up to five years imprisonment per charge - and made to pay back their profits.

Actions you can take

If you need to dispose of waste, either from your home or business, ask the service provider where your waste will be taken and what records you will receive to show it was managed legally. Everyone has a responsibility to manage their waste properly. This is called the waste duty of care.

  • Waste - duty of care responsibilities 

You should always use a registered waste carrier. A list of registered waste carriers can be found on the DAERA website:

  • List of registered waste carriers 

Reporting illegal waste activities

You can report illegal waste activities to DAERA's Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) - Enforcement Branch.

You should:

  • visually try to work out what sort of waste it is and how much of it there is
  • if you can do so without putting yourself at risk, take photographs or a video on your phone
  • make a note of the dates and times you saw any waste being tipped and its exact location
  • make a note of how many people were involved, if you saw them tipping waste or working on the site
  • make a note of the details of any vehicles you saw – make, model, colour, registration number and any livery
  • keep any notes or other records you make

Do not:

  • touch waste – it may contain syringes, toxic substances or asbestos
  • disturb the site – there may be evidence there that will assist an investigation
  • put yourself at risk by engaging anyone you think is involved or by making yourself obvious

Contacting DAERA

If you have witnessed or have concerns about alleged wrongdoing, corruption, fraud and malpractice in DAERA, you can make your concerns known.

  • External whistleblowing procedures on how to make a disclosure

If you witness an incident or damage to the environment or countryside in Northern Ireland by others, you can report it to DAERA for investigation

More useful links

  • Street cleaning, litter and illegal dumping
  • Fly-tipping
  • Disposal of bulky items
  • Burning rubbish
  • Northern Ireland Environment Agency
Share this page Share on Facebook (external link opens in a new window / tab) Share on Twitter (external link opens in a new window / tab) Share by email (external link opens in a new window / tab)

Environmental quality in your area

  • Accessing environmental information
  • Air and water quality
  • Air pollution and health
  • Bathing water quality
  • Climate change
  • Radiation in the environment
  • Radon gas in your home
  • Report polluted land and water
  • Report waste crime

Translation help

How to translate this page

Help improve this page - send your feedback

What do you want to do?
Report a problem
Which problem did you find on this page? (Tick all that apply)

Messages

You will not receive a reply. We will consider your feedback to help improve the site.

Don't include any personal or financial information, for example National Insurance, credit card numbers, or phone numbers.

What is your question about?

What to do next

Comments or queries about angling can be emailed to anglingcorrespondence@daera-ni.gov.uk 

If you have a comment or query about benefits, you will need to contact the government department or agency which handles that benefit.  Contacts for common benefits are listed below.

Carer's Allowance

Call 0800 587 0912
Email 
dcs.incomingpostteamdhc2@nissa.gsi.gov.uk

Discretionary support / Short-term benefit advance

Call 0800 587 2750 
Email 
customerservice.unit@communities-ni.gov.uk

Disability Living Allowance

Call 0800 587 0912 
Email dcs.incomingpostteamdhc2@nissa.gsi.gov.uk

Employment and Support Allowance

Call 0800 587 1377

Jobseeker’s Allowance

Contact your local Jobs & Benefits office

Personal Independence Payment

Call 0800 587 0932

If your query is about another benefit, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

Comments or queries about the Blue Badge scheme can be emailed to bluebadges@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk or you can also call 0300 200 7818.

For queries or advice about careers, contact the Careers Service.

For queries or advice about Child Maintenance, contact the Child Maintenance Service.

For queries or advice about claiming compensation due to a road problem, contact DFI Roads claim unit.

If you can’t find the information you’re looking for in the Coronavirus (COVID-19) section, then for queries about:

  • Restrictions or regulations — contact the Department of Health
  • Travel advice (including self-isolation) — contact the Department of Health
  • Coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccinations — contact the Department of Health or Public Health Agency

If your query is about another topic, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

For queries about your identity check, email nida@nidirect.gov.uk and for queries about your certificate, email covidcertni@hscni.net.

For queries or advice about criminal record checks, email ani@accessni.gov.uk

Application and payment queries can be emailed to ema_ni@slc.co.uk

For queries or advice about employment rights, contact the Labour Relations Agency.

For queries or advice about birth, death, marriage and civil partnership certificates and research, contact the General Register Office Northern Ireland (GRONI) by email gro_nisra@finance-ni.gov.uk

For queries about the High Street Spend Local Scheme,  email HSSS.mail@economy-ni.gov.uk.

For queries about:

  • Car tax, vehicle registration and SORN
    contact the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), Swansea
     
  • Driver licensing and tests, MOT and vehicle testing
    contact the Driver & Vehicle Agency (DVA), Northern Ireland

If your query is about another topic, select ‘Other’ from the drop-down menu above.

For queries about your identity check, email nida@nidirect.gov.uk.

 

For queries or advice about passports, contact HM Passport Office.

For queries or advice about Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs), including parking tickets and bus lane PCNs, email dcu@infrastructure-ni.gov.uk

For queries or advice about pensions, contact the Northern Ireland Pension Centre.

If you wish to report a problem with a road or street you can do so online in this section.

If you wish to check on a problem or fault you have already reported, contact DfI Roads.

For queries or advice about historical, social or cultural records relating to Northern Ireland, use the Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) enquiry service.

For queries or advice about rates, email LPSCustomerTeam@lpsni.gov.uk

For queries or advice about  60+ and Senior Citizen SmartPasses (which can be used to get concessionary travel on public transport), contact Smartpass - Translink.

If you have a question about a government service or policy, you should contact the relevant government organisation directly.  We don't have access to information about you.

Related sites

  • gov.uk
  • nibusinessinfo.co.uk

Links to supporting information

  • Accessibility statement
  • Crown copyright
  • Terms and conditions
  • Privacy
  • Cookies
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • RSS