It’s a cold, wet and dreary day in Lancashire. Rain spatters the windscreen of the unmarked car we’re driving in, as we brace ourselves for the kind of welcome we’re likely to get once we arrive. We’re here to check on the clean-up operations of a Burnley-based farmer who had been illegally sorting, storing and disposing of waste at several sites in the area. As an ex-sergeant, Maurizio Legname, now an investigator on the Environment Agency’s (EA) Environmental Crime Team, is no stranger to defensive welcomes. He tells me that you need thick skin to be in his line of work, as guilty parties can often be confrontational and aggressive when threatened by the strong arm of the law. “It’s part and parcel of a law enforcement job, to be met with aggression”, he tells me. “I’ve had it before where I’ve driven up to a suspected illegal waste site and been met with a group of aggressive and hostile men... but the dealings we’ve had with this guy in the past have been friendly.” I feel marginally reassured.

Driving down the country road to get to the farm in question, I wonder how a site so remote was flagged up as being a potential illegal waste site in the first place. The answer I receive is perhaps not surprising – good, old fashioned detective work. “Burnley Borough Council had been tipped off by a member of the public about waste being brought to land near the back of a legitimate business”, Legname explains. “They visited the site and found a mountain of mixed waste [pictured, top right] and a large hollow that had been dug (probably to act as an unregulated landfill). They called us and when we turned up, we saw a digger with a registration number. Everything is online now, so we ran the number and found the address of the owner, a local farmer.”

It was going down to meet this farmer at the address listed on the digger’s licence that the extent of the waste operation was uncovered. Yet more waste activities were taking place at the farm, with the site containing an assortment of construction and demolition waste – as well as a trailer full of rusting waste electrical and electronic devices (pictured). Situated close to a waterway, and with a working farm and fishery just metres away, the activities were not only illegal, but also a risk to the environment. After the initial inspection, including taking an inventory and photographic evidence of the site, the farm’s owner was formally cautioned and given a set time period (around a month) to clear the site, and dispose of the waste responsibly (and keep waste transfer notes for inspection). We’re here to check that this has been done.

Much to my relief, the site has been cleared and the atmosphere is amicable. Indeed, the EA officers and Burnley Borough Council’s Streetscene officer, John Burgoyne, seem genuinely impressed with how much waste has been moved since their last visit. Further, after a thorough inspection of the farm (and surrounding areas), they are pleased to note that there are no indications of any new illegal operations taking place. If there had been, the case would have then been referred to court for legal proceedings. “There’s none of this two-strikes-and-you’re-out business”, Legname cautions. “If you’ve received a formal warning, you have one chance to get it right before you’re brought to court.”

When asked why he was running the site, the farmer cheerfully told the EA officers that he hadn’t realised that it was illegal. It’s a common excuse, Environment Officer Michael Dickinson tells me, but ignorance is declining – thanks in part to the work the EA has been doing in educating the public about waste crime, through leaflet drops near known illegal waste sites, door-to-door visits, and media engagement. “Waste is everyone’s responsibility, not just those who manage it. Many people don’t realise that if you give waste to an unlicensed operative (or lease land to one), you are liable for prosecution. People don’t tend to check a waste carrier’s credentials when they’re handing over their waste – but it’s the omission of this small step that could land them in court.”

In this case, however, it’s more likely that financial reward, rather than pure ignorance, was the driving motive for setting up shop. The presence of a waste screener on the site indicates that the farmer was sorting the waste into different sizes for recovery (scrap metal dealers will pay for waste metal) and disposal. It’s a lucrative business – the agency estimates that waste crime diverts as much as £1 billion every year from legitimate businesses and HM Treasury. “People often say waste crime is a victimless crime, as it doesn’t appear to directly impact on anyone. But if you look closer, it’s actually a crime that has many victims”, Legname tells me. “It affects not only legitimate businesses [who lose out by being undercut by illegal waste businesses], but also the environment [poorly managed hazardous waste can leach into waterways, for example], local authorities, local residents [who are impacted by noise and traffic], and, ultimately, the taxpayer.”

To help bring into focus the true cost of waste crime, the EA is now completing victim impact statements for each case it deals with, detailing who is being affected by the illegal operations. As well as providing partner organisations (such as the police, the fire service, and local authorities) with an idea of the severity of the crime, it is hoped these victim impact statements will inform decisions made by judges in prosecution cases. “Historically, waste crime offenders have not been given large fines or sentences for their activities, and that can send the message that waste crime pays, that it’s a lucrative business. We’re hoping that by detailing exactly how many people have been affected by it, judges will rule in correspondence with the severity of the crime”, says Anthony Swarbrick, Team Leader for the Illegal Waste Sites Task Force for Lancashire. Indeed, earlier this year, the EA helped develop sentencing guidelines with the Sentencing Council, which called for harsher penalties for environmental crime.

Despite this, the EA’s second annual waste crime report (listing the results of the work undertaken by the £5 million Illegal Waste Sites Task Force), found that although 1,279 illegal waste sites were stopped in 2012/13 (70 per cent more than in 2011/12), just £800,000 of fines were issued, compared with £1.3 million the year before.

But the EA is quick to say that this isn’t due to a lack of effort: “Prosecutions in waste crime aren’t dropping because we’re not doing our job, it’s because we’re getting more done in terms of getting illegal waste sites into compliance. We’re disrupting crime through prevention”, Swarbrick says.

This is down in part to the agency’s step-change in approach, from cracking down on waste crime, to preventing it in the first place: “It’s not just about enforcement anymore, it’s about prevention”, he adds. “If we just focused on taking people to court, without trying to prevent waste crime sites from occurring in the first place, we wouldn’t get anywhere. It’s about getting in early, disrupting illegal practices through prevention, bringing people into compliance, and then ensuring they stay compliant.”

Indeed, as the taskforce funding draws to a close, the agency is focusing on the lessons learned, and preventing waste crime through collaboration with relevant bodies – local authorities, police and fire services. “With collaborative thinking, one partner, such as the Environment Agency, will be able to uncover one part of the picture with its information, while another, say a local authority, will be able to uncover another. It’s only by working together and by bringing our information together, that we can see the bigger picture, and make the bigger difference”, Legname tells me. One thing’s for sure, with the EA operating on a reduced budget and reportedly having to cut around 1,550 jobs, collaboration with other bodies will be key to future waste crime work. As I’m leaving, Swarbrick tells me: “The task force may be ending, but the practice learned has been implemented across the agency and will carry on – you’ll still be seeing ‘days of action’ coming out of the North West area in the future, make no mistake.”