Waste: Exports
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how many enforcement actions have been taken by the Environment Agency in relation to misclassified waste exports in the last five years.
Answered by Mary Creagh
In the last five years, the Environment Agency (EA) has secured 6 prosecutions, accepted 3 enforcement undertakings and served 1 fixed penalty notice. In addition, 35 warning letters and 169 formal advice and guidance letters have been issued for lower-level offences.
The EA takes a range of enforcement actions in response to illegal and misclassified waste exports, using a proportionate, risk-based approach set out in its Enforcement and Sanctions Policy.
The EA has prevented nearly 235,000 tonnes of waste from being exported unlawfully in the last 5 years. Enforcement is targeted at the most serious cases, particularly those involving hazardous, misdescribed or contaminated waste. In March 2026 a company and its director were ordered to pay more than £142,000 for illegally exporting contaminated plastic waste to Malaysia.
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