Environmental Update (April 2010)
Prison sentence for storing waste illegally
A Malvern man was recently sentenced to a total of 12 months
imprisonment for illegally depositing and storing controlled waste
- namely used tyres at his workplace and home.
The charges were brought by the Environment Agency under the
Environmental Protection Act 1990; the defendant was sentenced to
four months imprisonment for each of the three offences to run
consecutively.
The defendant had carried out unauthorised deposits and keeping
of used tyres at two locations. The Environment Agency had advised
the defendant in 2003 that a Waste Management Licence (now termed
'Environmental Permit') was required to continue his business
operations legally. However, he failed to obtain such a licence and
continued depositing and storing tyres illegally. In November 2005,
the company went into liquidation and left approximately 450,000
waste tyres behind.
The defendant then traded as a new business, storing
approximately 100,000 waste tyres at his home; again, without a
Waste Management Licence.
Speaking after the case the Environment Agency said: "The
Environment Agency will not hesitate to take the appropriate
sanctions against offenders who operate large scale waste
facilities without the appropriate registered permits. As
part of the investigation 56 Garages were investigated under the
Duty of Care Regulations which resulted in 50,000 tyres being
removed to a suitable licensed facility at their cost.
All producers of controlled waste should ensure that they
only give their waste to registered waste carriers who use Duty of
Care waste transfer notes and most importantly ensure that their
waste is going to a permitted or exempt
facility".
This case is an important reminder to all waste producers that
they need to ensure they meet their basic 'duty of care'
requirements with respect to waste management. This means that you
should be able to account for all waste transferred off site (by
completing and retaining waste transfer notes for at least 2 years)
as well as ensuring that your waste is collected by a registered
waste carrier (get proof) and taken to a permitted facility (get
proof).
If you have any questions relating to your waste duty of
care then please contact the Mentor 24/7 Advice line on 0800 634
7006.