Waste crime isn’t only about fly-tippers dumping rubbish in lay-bys. Businesses are prosecuted every year for handing waste to the wrong people, storing it without the right permit, or failing to keep the paperwork. The fines can be large, and legal costs often add as much again.
This guide covers what the law expects, what recent cases have cost, and the checks that protect your business.
What you can be prosecuted for
- Breaching your duty of care. Every business must describe its waste correctly, pass it only to an authorised person and keep records. The duty stays with you even after the waste has gone.
- Using an unregistered carrier. If your waste is fly-tipped by someone you paid, you can be prosecuted as well as them. Always check the carrier is registered. See what a registered waste carrier is.
- Hazardous waste paperwork failures. Moving hazardous waste without a consignment note, or mixing it with other waste.
- Storing or treating waste without a permit. Keeping waste beyond what an exemption allows, or taking in waste from elsewhere.
- Causing pollution. Letting oil, chemicals or contaminated water reach drains, rivers or land.
How big can the fines be?
Since 2015, magistrates’ courts in England and Wales can impose unlimited fines for most environmental offences. The most serious environmental permit offences can also lead to up to five years in prison when they’re tried in the Crown Court. Courts follow sentencing guidelines that take account of how much harm was caused, how careless or deliberate the offence was and the size of the business. On top of the fine, defendants usually pay the regulator’s costs and a victim surcharge, and they may be ordered to clean up the site.
Recent cases
Birmingham waste company, September 2026. Greener Lifestyle Limited kept running a waste site after its exemptions were removed and after being told to stop. Birmingham Magistrates’ Court fined the company £10,000 and ordered it to pay £11,796.50 in costs and a £2,000 victim surcharge, a total of £23,796.50. It was also given six months to clear all the waste from the site.
Devon grab hire firm, May 2026. DTM Grab Hire Ltd deposited 3,490 tonnes of soil, stones and road planings on a floodplain farm site that had no permit. Plymouth Magistrates’ Court fined it £13,653, with costs and surcharge taking the total to £16,664. It was the third conviction linked to the same site, after the landowner and another carrier. The Environment Agency pointed out that carriers have a duty of care to know where they’re sending waste.
The lesson from both cases is that the bill is always more than the fine. Costs, clean-up orders, lost contracts and damage to your reputation often add far more.
Five checks that keep you out of court
- Check your carrier’s registration on the public register before the first collection, and every year after that.
- Describe the waste accurately with the right waste code on every note. Our guide to whether your waste is hazardous shows how.
- Keep your paperwork. Waste transfer notes for two years, hazardous waste consignment notes for three.
- Know where it goes. Ask your contractor which site your waste goes to and check that site has a permit.
- Store it properly while it’s with you. See how long you can store hazardous waste on site.
For household and fly-tipping penalties, see our article on fly-tipping fines.
Keep your waste compliant
Every Select A Skip collection uses licensed carriers and permitted sites, and comes with the right paperwork. Our waste reporting service keeps all your notes in one place for when you need them. See our hazardous waste services, get a quote or call 01743 341 000.
Sources: GOV.UK press releases, Birmingham waste company to clear site and pay nearly £24,000 (September 2026) and Third waste carrier convicted in Environment Agency operation (May 2026).