The prosecution of four men and three companies for the alleged illegal export of household waste to Brazil will be heard at Crown Court, after Magistrates heard representations from the Environment Agency this morning (January 27).
Magistrates at City of London Magistrates Court deferred the case involving Jonathan Coombe, 41, of Romford, Simon Edwards, 45, of Loughton inEssex, Julio Da Costa, 51, and Juliano Da Costa, 27, both of Swindon, due to the scale and complexity of the case.
Also being prosecuted are Edwards Recycling Ltd and Edwards Waste Paper Ltd of which Mr Edwards is a director, and Worldwide Biorecycling Ltd, a company owned by the Da Costas. The defendants will be committed for trial at Crown Court on March 9.
Allegations
Prosecutors claim that the men breached terms of the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007, by allegedly exporting a shipment of 89 containers of household waste, which had been marked as plastics for recycling to Brazil in 2008 and 2009. According to the prosecution, the containers were intercepted by Brazilian customs and repatriated to the UK, at which point Environment Agency inspectors were said to have discovered mixed waste including nappies, blood packs and syringes.
The defendants have yet to enter a plea to the charges at this stage.
Magistrates heard representations from the prosecution team who stated that the trial should be heard at Crown Court due to the public interest and the scale of the alleged offences.
The case comes in the wake of a two-year investigation carried out by the Environment Agency, in partnership with Brazilian authorities into the incident (see letsrecycle.com story).
Todays decision follows on from an adjournment of the proceedings in December, in order for witness statements to be examined by the defence team (see letsrecycle.com story).
The defendants were granted unconditional bail until the committal hearing at City of London Magistrates Court in March.
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