Recommendation 8

The 2018 Resources and Waste Strategy does not set out a pathway to government’s ultimate goal of eliminating waste crime by 2043.18 Defra acknowledged that its reporting on progress implementing the strategy and towards this goal has been limited. The Agency told us how it is expanding its metrics beyond its current quarterly reporting on the number of high-risk illegal waste sites, to a suite of measures including the proportion 6 C&AG’s Report, Figure 21 7 Qq 3, 17, 56, 61, 64, 86 8 Qq 17, 88; C&AG’s Report, Figure 21 9 Qq 17–18 10 Qq 87–88 11 Qq 5, 7, 43, 49 12 Q 31 13 Q 3 14 Q 88 15 C&AG’s Report, figure 21 16 GWC0003 (ESA); GWC0006 (ADEPT); GWC0007 (SUEZ) 17 Qq 25–28, 88 18 C&AG’s Report, para 24, Figure 24 Government actions to combat waste crime 11 of waste that is being handled legitimately, the amount of waste prevented from illegal export, and the amount of hazardous waste discovered to be misdescribed to avoid tax.19 Defra is relying on an externally contracted evaluation of the strategy, due to complete in 2027, to identify further actions that it may need to take.20 Improving waste crime data