Environmental Offences (Unauthorised or Harmful Deposit, Treatment or Disposal of Waste)

Environmental Offences (Unauthorised or Harmful Deposit, Treatment or Disposal of Waste) arise under s.33 Environmental Protection Act 1990. A person shall not deposit controlled waste or extractive waste, or knowingly cause or knowingly permit it to be deposited, in or on any land unless an environmental permit authorising the deposit is in force and the deposit is in accordance with it (s.33(1)(a)); submit controlled waste to a listed operation on land or by mobile plant otherwise than under and in accordance with an environmental permit (s.33(1)(b)); or treat, keep or dispose of controlled waste or extractive waste in a manner likely to cause pollution of the environment or harm to human health (s.33(1)(c)). A person who contravenes s.33(1) commits an offence (s.33(6)). Paragraphs (a) and (b) do not apply to an exempt waste operation (s.33(1A)) or, except for an establishment or undertaking, to household waste from a domestic property treated, kept or disposed of within its curtilage (s.33(2) and (2A)). Where controlled waste is carried in and deposited from a motor vehicle, the person who controls or is in a position to control the use of the vehicle is treated as knowingly causing the deposit (s.33(5)). It is a defence to prove that the person took all reasonable precautions and exercised all due diligence to avoid the offence, or that the acts were done in an emergency to avoid danger to human health on the conditions in s.33(7)(c). Maximum sentence: on conviction on indictment, imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or a fine or both; on summary conviction, imprisonment for a term not exceeding the general limit in a magistrates' court (12 months for an offence triable either way: Sentencing Act 2020, s.224(1A)(b)) or a fine or both (s.33(8)). A person other than an establishment or undertaking who commits a relevant offence, meaning a contravention of s.33(1)(c) consisting of the treatment, keeping or disposal within the curtilage of a domestic property of household waste from that property, is liable to a fine only (s.33(9) and (10)).

In practice

This is an either-way offence: it may be tried at the magistrates' court or the Crown Court. Mode of trial depends on the seriousness and the defendant's election. The suspect must be cautioned in accordance with Code C PACE 1984 before any questions about the offence are put to them. Interviews must be audio-recorded (Code E) or, for indictable offences, may be visually recorded (Code F).