Organised crime making millions from illegal waste dumping in UK, says committee

Peers say woeful' record on prosecutions has led to a low-risk, high-reward' criminal culture

Organised crime groups in the UK are making millions every year from illegally dumping and burning rubbish, peers have told ministers, after an inquiry found a lack of enforcement made it a low-risk, high-reward" criminal enterprise.

Criminality is endemic in the waste sector," a Lords committee told the government on Tuesday, after it found at least 38m tonnes of waste was illegally managed every year, leading to serious environmental, economic and social consequences".