WASTE - 25.06.2020

Neighbours run ragged by waste criminal

A director has been found guilty following persistent breaches of his company’s waste permit. How did his actions lead to multiple neighbour complaints and ultimately land him in court?

Resident odour

Shows Waste Management Ltd (SWML) applied for a permit to add refuse-derived fuel (RDF) to its site. This application was turned down by the Environment Agency (EA) in October 2015.

Note. RDF is a fuel source produced from both commercial and domestic waste, including plastics and biodegradable materials.

Despite the refused application, the EA soon began to receive complaints - local residents reported an increase in black flies in the area and a foul odour coming from the site.

On investigation

Officers found that large amounts of RDF had been brought on site, shredded and stored, despite the company’s failure to secure the authorisation. Other unpermitted waste included 200 tonnes of refrigerator foam and a large pile of waste was found emitting steam within the main building. This waste had been present for longer than the 48 hours allowed. The EA was able to trace that the act of breaching the permit had continued for one year from summer 2015.

Reformative action

The operator of the site co-operated with the EA to ensure that bales of waste stored on site for a number of weeks were removed, and an insecticide was used to combat the fly issue. By August 2016 all necessary waste had been removed and the site had been cleared.

SWML has since ceased trading, so on 17 March 2020, former director Warren Steele, appeared in court on personal charges, and was ordered to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work. He was also required to pay £10,000 towards prosecution costs.

Wasted effort

The rules for the management of waste are strict, and, as shown, even if you have an environmental permit for some waste activities, you should not assume that you’ll get away with acting outside of the permit. In this case the operator put in an application for the activity which had already started, expecting to make it legal by obtaining the changed permit. It’s safe to say that those in authority dislike attempts to trick the system. Trying it on is even more likely to lead to court action.

Attracting it like flies

Flies, odours, litter or noise from your site are going to draw complaints, even if you don’t have homes or other businesses in the immediate vicinity. Although your waste activity might be entirely legitimate you’ll need to ensure that these sources of nuisance are under control. Your permit will include conditions for the control of nuisance, and in any case you can be prosecuted for environmental health offences if they occur.

Tip. Do what you can to minimise the negative impact of your activities, but also be prepared to act promptly if it goes wrong. A quick and effective clean-up, an apology and some compensatory action can go a long way in keeping neighbourly relations sweet.

After waste plastics and biodegradable materials were brought on site, the neighbours complained of flies and nasty niffs. Even if your waste activities are legal, be sure to closely manage potential causes of nuisance and prepare a plan to respond quickly if things go wrong.

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