The sites the regulator forgot: why more than 1,600 sites have avoided inspections

The Environment Agency (EA) carried out more than 21,000 compliance assessments of permitted waste operations and other ‘installation’ sectors – such as chemicals, food and drink, cement and minerals – in England in 2018, up 12% on the previous year, according to the regulator’s latest data. The figures show that “waste treatment” is the regulated sector that was most assessed in 2018, with more than 10,000 checks carried out last year, followed by landfill (3,784) biowaste treatment (1,310) and chemicals (1,163).