Environment Agency faces landfill tax bill worth millions to clear illegal waste

Exclusive: ‘extremely unhelpful’ policy seen as deterrent to clearing thousands of dump sites across England Sandra Laville and Helena Horton Sat 6 Dec 2025 07.00 CET

Millions of pounds in landfill tax owed to the government has to be paid by the Environment Agency (EA) if it clears any of the thousands of illegal waste dumps across the country.

Of the £15m that taxpayers are paying for the clearance of the only site the agency has committed to clearing up – a vast illegal dump at Hoad’s Wood in Kent – £4m is landfill tax.

John Russell, a Liberal Democrat peer who helped push the agency to clean up Hoad’s Wood, described the situation as ludicrous.