Guilty plea for exporters in Brazil waste case

Two defendants have pleaded guilty to illegally exporting over 1,500 tonnes of ‘poorly sorted household waste’ to Brazil in 2008 and 2009.

At the pre-trial last April, Julio da Costa, 51, and son Juliano da Costa, 27, had entered a plea of not guilty and denied any role in the export of 89 40-foot containers of ‘prohibited waste’, erroneously described as ‘mixed plastics’, to Santos and Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil.

On arrival the shipment was refused by the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) and repatriated to the UK.

Following a ‘complex’ two-year investigation, Environment Agency (EA) investigators found that 42 of the 89 containers exported could be traced back to the two defendants, who operate from the Swindon area.

The defendants have now changed their plea to guilty.

Though it is legal to export certain materials for recycling in other countries, the export of waste is strictly prohibited under the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007. The maximum penalty for being found in breach of waste exportation law is an ‘unlimited fine or up to two years in prison’.

Pre-trial

At the pre-trial in April 2012, two other men, Jonathan Coombe, 41, and Simon Edwards, 46, and Edwards Waste Paper Ltd pleaded guilty to the same offence.

They were found to have exported the remaining 47 containers to Brazil from Felixstowe and Tilbury, Essex.

Following the pre-trial, Head of the EA’s National Crime Team, Andy Higham, said:  “The Environment Agency takes waste crime seriously and will pursue offenders through the courts.

“Illegal waste exports risk harm to human health and the environment in the country of export, it also undermines law-abiding recycling businesses back home.

“There is a legitimate export market for recyclable material, but those considering flouting the laws should know we will take vigorous action where there is evidence of waste being exported illegally.”

The five defendants are due to be sentenced at the Old Bailey on 5 March 2013.

Former director of Worldwide Biorecyclables, Andre de Oliveira, is still wanted in connection with the case after he ‘failed to answer bail in November 2011’. His current whereabouts are unknown, despite enquiries carried out by Interpol and the UK Borders Agency.

Read more about The Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007.