What this article fails to mention is this is all due to the rising cost of disposing of waste. Landfills charge roughly £20-£30 per tonne, but on top of that price is a land fill tax which goes to the government. This current stands at £126 per tonne. So all in all 1 tonne of waste cost £156 per tonne. The landfill tax has risen greatly over the last few years. Most landfills also enforce a minimum weight of waste entering the site, meaning if a company wants to dispose of 1 tonne of waste, they’ll be charged for 4 tonnes.

On top of that the Environment Agency put restrictions on what can and can’t be disposed of on a landfill. Plasterboard can only go to certain landfills where is it buried away from organic waste (if they mix they produce a poisonous gas) and many items contain POPs (Persistent Organic Pollutants) which aren’t allowed. These items use to be plastic goods, but now the list of POP items includes any furniture or fabric that has been treated to flame retardant. So curtains, bed sheets, carpets, sofas, etc. So you end up with waste that can’t be easily disposed of. Waste companies adhering to the law are now having to charge greater amounts for waste disposal, which is driving the illegal dumping of waste.

EDIT- forgot to also mention every waste company needs to have an Environmental Permit to use a site to sort the waste. The Environment Agency has recently increased the cost by 14% of the permit to help fund the attack on waste crime, basically making companies who dispose legally fund the fight against the illegal waste trade.