3R Technology UK and its director Yulin Wang appeared before Preston Magistrates’ Court on 24 March 2026, where both pleaded guilty to a total of 16 offences.
The company was fined £80,000 and ordered to pay £45,000 in costs alongside a £2,000 victim surcharge.
Wang received a community order of 120 hours’ unpaid work, and was ordered to pay £15,000 in costs and a £114 victim surcharge.
The court heard that the company had exported waste falsely described as clean plastic, when in fact it was contaminated with electrical waste such as wiring, circuit boards and mixed materials.
As a result, the shipments required prior notification and consent under waste shipment regulations, which had not been obtained.
Emma Viner, Enforcement and Investigations Manager at the Environment Agency (EA), said: “Wang and his company had a complete disregard for the legislation in place to protect the environment and communities, deliberately flouting the law and ignoring notices to cease activity.”
Illegal plastic waste exported between 2022 and 2025
The case followed a lengthy investigation by the EA into a series of illegal waste exports between April 2022 and February 2025.
Prosecutors told the court that 14 of the offences related to attempted shipments of contaminated plastic waste during that period, while two further offences concerned breaches of the prohibition notice issued in August 2024.
The attempted shipments included nine containers exported in April 2022, three more in May and July 2024, and a further two in February 2025.
The investigation began after a 2022 spot check at Felixstowe uncovered a container that was significantly contaminated despite being labelled as clean plastic. Subsequent inspections confirmed that all containers linked to the company contained similar levels of contamination.
All containers were intercepted within the UK and were not exported to Malaysia.
In 2024, while the investigation was ongoing, another contaminated container was intercepted at Liverpool.
Following these findings, the EA served one prohibition notice on the company in August 2024, requiring it to cease exporting contaminated plastic waste unless it complied fully with regulations.
However, the court heard that two further containers were exported after the notice was issued, both of which were found to contain contaminated waste.
Correction: This article was updated on 21 July 2026 to state that the company “pleaded guilty” and was not “found guilty” as stated in the original copy.
Correction: This article was updated on 21 July 2026 to make clear that the total fine to the company was £80,000, with £47,000 incurred in additional costs.
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