Kent RDF firm set for High Court trial

The owners and operators of Kent RDF company Waste4Fuel have been ordered to appear at the High Court as the Environment Agency seeks to have all combustible waste cleared from the company’s site at St Pauls Cray, Orpington.

Waste4Fuel director Bryan Hughes failed to appear at the High Court hearing in London on Wednesday morning (October 30), but sent a letter agreeing to the Agency submission to bring the date of the full trial forward, although a date for this trial has not yet been set.

Wednesdays hearing was due to examine promises made by Waste4Fuel to take steps to reduce fire risks at its site at St Pauls Cray by a September 30 deadline, which was set at a previous High Court hearing on August 29 2013.

According to the Environment Agency, inspections carried out by its officers earlier this month found that the work had not been completed by the agreed deadline, so the matter was referred back to court.

Waste4Fuel

Waste4Fuel which collects and sorts waste such as tyres, plastics, cardboard, metals and paper at the site for processing into a refuse derived fuel (RDF) originally had its environmental permit suspended on April 22 2013 and was ordered to remove all combustible waste from the site.

This followed complaints about thousands of tonnes of waste being left at the Waste4Fuel site, where there were also reports of several fires between March and April 2013.

Director Bryan Hughes said earlier this month that the company had cleared 2,500 tonnes of waste since the start of the year and was working to remove another 2,500 (see letsrecycle.com story).

However, Waste4Fuel was ordered in August to fit two fire breaks at the site and clear a specific area of shredded waste. According to the Agency, this area was cleared and one firebreak was fitted by the September 30 deadline, but the second firebreak was not completed.

Jon Griffin, waste team leader at the EA, said: It was very disappointing that director Bryan Hughes failed to appear at court today to be held to account for his failure to comply with the High Courts interim instructions. We are pleased however, that he has agreed to attend a full hearing quickly.

We are determined to progress this course of action, so that the court can rule on the companys performance and the issues on this site can be brought to a conclusion for the surrounding communities as soon as possible.

When contacted by letsrecycle.com, Bryan Hughes and Waste4Fuel could not be reached for comment.