In recent months, Northern Ireland’s Environment and Heritage Service has successfully prosecuted a number of people who have been dumping waste from the South in the country.
The two politicians were speaking in the margins at the first British Irish Council Sectoral (Environment) meeting to be held since the return of devolution.
After the meeting, Ms Foster said she had a constructive conversation with Minister Gormley and had used the opportunity to propose a way forward on the issue.
She also revealed that the pair had discussed coastal zone management and climate change.
In January, a man from Northern Ireland was given an 18-month suspended sentence for breaching waste management and water pollution legislation.
He was convicted of operating an illegal dump in County Armagh.
James Cooper