Shropshire Star

Businessman fined and ordered to clean up waste-strewn site

A businessman has been fined £4,500 for operating a recycling site without an environmental permit.

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Brian Anthony Woods, 65, of St George's, Telford, has also been ordered to clear the site at The Old Granville, Granville Road, Donnington Wood, Telford, by July 26.

The Environment Agency said there is still around 6,000 cubic metres of waste on the site.

Woods was prosecuted at Telford Magistrates' Court on Monday after he pleaded guilty to two charges of operating the Granex Recycling facility, while not being authorised by an environmental permit.

He was also ordered to pay £7,101.65 costs and a £120 surcharge.

A Regulation 44 Order was made under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 to clear the waste on the site before July 26 and not to bring any additional waste on site.

It was estimated that since the last hearing in August 2019, when sentence was deferred for Woods to clear the waste on site, around 500 cubic meters of waste had been removed and around 6000 cubic meters of waste was still on site.

The court heard that Woods had previous convictions in 2011 for environmental offences committed during 2009 and 2010.

Woods was a director of Granex Recycling Ltd, which was dissolved in April 2017, but prior to that recovered waste plastics, processed them and produced plastic pellets for re-use in the plastics industry.

Environment Agency officers inspected the site in December 2016 after a tip off.

During their inspection officers found a building containing plant equipment and plastics in various stages of processing, as well as scrap plastic items stored in large haphazard stockpiles of up to three to four metres in height. They also found a large compound, filled with used plastic window frame pieces, which limited access onto the site.

Exemptions from the requirement to hold a permit for the waste handling activities taking place at the site had been registered but the inspection revealed the activities were not being carried out to the environmental standards required.

After the hearing, Environment Agency officer Steve Cawthorne said: "The illegal and uncontrolled storage of waste, which could have led to a fire, gave considerable cause for concern. In addition, the lack of sealed drainage on site meant fire water runoff could have entered the watercourse and harmed human health had there been a fire. So we are pleased with the penalties imposed by court.

"Waste crime is a serious offence with tough penalties as it can damage the environment and undermine those who operate legally. Storing such large amounts of waste also poses a serious risk to the environment and human health. This case sends out a clear message that we will not hesitate to take action to ensure the protection of the environment and avoid harm to health."

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