It is important that waste is managed safely in a way which does not pose risks to people or the environment. Operators of landfill sites in England are required by the Environmental Permitting (England & Wales) Regulations 2016 to hold an environmental permit. The Environment Agency regulates sites through these permits. The regulatory framework in place is designed to enable operators to carry out their work safely, and to protect people from environmental risks.

An environmental permit contains conditions that the operator must follow to minimise the impact on people and the environment to ensure that waste is managed in a safe and sanitary way. These include managing the operations on site to control odour. Whilst no landfill will ever be completely odour free, odour arising from such operations should not cause serious offence.

Where poor performance does occur the Environment Agency has a range of powers to bring sites back into compliance, either by working with operators or by taking action directly. Where necessary these powers enable the Environment Agency to undertake more serious enforcement action against operators. This includes suspending the permit until the operator meets conditions required to restart the operation within environmental limits, or in extreme cases, revoking the permit.

The Environment Agency takes Regulatory action by reference to its enforcement and sanctions policy and the Government’s core guidance on environmental permitting, and with appropriate regard to the Regulators' Code.

The Environment Agency’s Chief Regulator publishes data annually about pollution from regulated sites. The latest report can be found here: (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/environment-agency-chief-regulators-report-2023-24)

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs