A sand and gravel supplier has been ordered to pay around £250,000 after exceeding by almost 19 times the storage limit on its waste licence. Rory J Holbrook Ltd admitted at Norwich Crown Court operating a facility at Blofield, Norfolk, without the necessary permits. The company was fined £30,000, and ordered to pay costs of…
DetailsWood recyclers are to lobby to change rules limiting the amount of time that waste wood destined for biomass burning can be stored, arguing that a three month limit is unlikely to prevent fires in the sector. The Environment Agency last month launched a consultation into changes to standard permitting rules for the storage of…
DetailsSlick organised criminals are targeting ‘isolated’ landowners in order to dump huge quantities of illegal waste, the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) has warned. The association argued that many criminal ringleaders have ‘a very legitimate front’ – meaning it is difficult to tell whether operators are genuine. It follows a notice from the Environment…
DetailsTwo Kent companies have been ordered to pay a total of £44,294 for illegal waste disposal on flood plain near the River Medway. In action brought by the Environment Agency, construction firm Fastrac Contractors and Utilities Ltd was found guilty in its absence of illegal waste activity and fined £40,000 with £1,650 costs at Sevenoaks…
DetailsThe Environment Agency’s failure to listen to tyre recyclers on stack sizes could inadvertently increase the risk of fires on waste sites. This was the message from the Tyre Recovery Association (TRA) today as it urged the Agency to amend its controversial Fire Prevention Plan guidance. Currently the Environment Agency is undertaking a periodic…
DetailsThe falling price of scrap metal is adding to the impact of reduced commodity prices in the local authority sector and causing concerns in the WEEE sector. Local authorities are having to face up to reduced prices for light iron and other metals while some recyclers of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) consider that…
DetailsA fatal incident at a Merseyside woodchip factory – described by one HSE inspector as his “most horrific case” – has seen two firms ordered to pay combined costs of £624,000. Portuguese-owned Sonae Industria (UK) Ltd and equipment specialist Valmet Ltd, which took over Metso Ltd in 2013, were sentenced at Liverpool Crown Court…
DetailsNatural Resources Wales (NRW) is working with recycling company South Wales Wood Recycling Ltd to tackle an ongoing fire at its Newport Dock facility. Fires occurred in mid-November after a number of hotspots within the 18-20,000 tonnes of woodchip waste stored at the site were exposed. An issue of smoke has arisen through the…
DetailsOne man has died and another seriously injured following an incident at a recycling facility in County Durham on Saturday (from LetsRecycle.com). Emergency services were called to the Wades Ltd – also known locally as the John Wade Group Ltd – Aycliffe Quarry plant at 12.04pm to reports of a serious accident. The victim, named…
DetailsA Manchester waste plastic recycling firm has been fined after an employee’s hand was severed after being dragged into a granulator machine. CP Plastics Limited was prosecuted by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) following an incident at Manchester New Rd, Middleton, Manchester on the 4 March 2015. Manchester Magistrates’ Court heard the employee, who…
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