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Environment Agency focuses on scrap metal compliance

The Environment Agency (EA), Boston Borough Council and Lincolnshire County Council announced today (3 June) that they have conducted visits in Boston, Lincolnshire, to inspect scrap metal businesses and provide guidance on how to comply with waste management laws.

Environment Agency focuses on scrap metal compliance

The visits follow on from previous inspections in March that aimed to ensure businesses in the region possessed the necessary permits, both from the EA and the planning authorities, and were not paying for scrap with cash – which was made illegal in 2012 in a bid to establish accountability and reduce metal theft.

According to the authorities, four sites that had been identified as operating without proper licenses were visited, with the relevant paperwork handed over to ensure future compliance.

Environment Agency Enforcement Officer Peter Stark commented: “We are acting on the promise to ensure there is no harm to people and the environment from sites treating waste vehicles and scrap metal.

“We have done follow-up visits to four sites and hand-delivered application forms for environmental permits for breaking and dismantling vehicles. We have given operators final deadlines and will take enforcement action against those that don’t comply.”

He added: “We will continue to engage with illegal operators, provide advice to those that want to comply and stop those that flout the regulations.”

Find out more about how to register as a waste carrier, broker or dealer.

County Durham man fined for waste offences

In related news, the EA has also recently taken a man to court for operating an illegal waste site in Durham.

James Ian Campbell was fined £550, ordered to pay £800 costs and a victim of surcharge of £55 after he pleaded guilty to a charge against environmental permitting regulations at Darlington Magistrates Court on 27 May.

The court heard that an investigation by the EA in the summer of 2014 revealed that Campbell had been importing waste to a site at Stanley Moss, between Sunniside and Crook in County Durham, in order to ‘segregate it into valuable parts that could be sold on and dispose of waste that had no value by burning’.

EA officers reported that the site was being illegally used to store, deposit and dispose of mixed waste, after finding burnt mattresses, car tyres, metal springs and frames on Campbell’s property. They also found ‘stripped down’ washing machines, cookers, fridges and a television on the land.

Campbell, who was licensed to carry scrap metal, claimed that the waste was being stored on the site temporarily while his vehicle was off the road, but said it would be cleared as soon as the vehicle was repaired.

Officers advised him that his licence did not permit him to store, deposit or dispose of mixed waste, and reportedly informed him of the necessary steps he needed to take to ensure that his activities were brought within the law.

However, a follow-up inspection by the EA in September 2014 found in excess of fifty car and heavy goods vehicle tyres stored at the site, resulting in Campbell’s prosecution.

Find out more about the increasing efforts to crack down on waste crime.

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