Courts in Northern Ireland recouped less than 6 per cent of payments avoided by waste criminals over the last five years, a report has revealed.
The country’s government spending watchdog found that fines totalling under £100,000 were dished out for breaking refuse-management rules in the country between 2019 and 2024.
Even when added to the £900,000 of confiscation orders made over the same period, this was nowhere near the estimated £17.2 million of costs avoided by those convicted of flouting the law, the Northern Ireland Audit Office reported.
“To prevent waste crime, a range of compliance and enforcement measures must be in
place,” said the watchdog.
“One such measure should be that perpetrators of illegal activity face a punishment that dissuades them from committing the crime in the first place or from re-offending.”
The report added that of 36 criminal prosecutions brought by the Environmental Crime Unit over the past five year, only two had led to reinstatement of the environment by a defendant.
And just 14 waste management licences have been revoked in the country in the past decade.
“The current approach to regulating waste in Northern Ireland requires improvement,” warned the report.
