EA claims fly-tipping figures show benefits of harsher penalties
The Agency's annually published Flycapture figures show that it dealt with 818 illegal waste dumping incidents in 2008/09, compared to 851 in 2007/08. Despite this decline, officers secured more than £840,000 in fines – almost double the £425,000 recorded for 2007/08, and took forward 196 prosecutions in relation to illegal waste activities, including eight offenders who were given custodial sentences.
Liz Parkes, head of waste and resource management at the Environment Agency, said: “The increase in the level of fines reflects how seriously the Environment Agency is pursuing people who dump waste and the dim view that the courts hold of this crime. This is not about people putting rubbish out on the wrong day, or in the wrong bins. We concentrate on those individuals and companies whose illegal activities have the potential to cause serious damage to the environment and human health.”
SITA begins sorting Castle Morpeth recyclables at West Sleekburn MRF
The MRF, which was officially opened in April 2009 (see letsrecycle.com story) will be used to sort 45,000 tonnes-a-year of paper, cardboard, cans and plastic bottles that are collected from the kerbside in the area, alongside recyclables from the former Tynedale, Alnwick and Berwick areas which are already sorted at the £12 million facility. Recycled material collected in Wansbeck and Blyth Valley is also expected to be sent to the MRF, from March 2010 and May 2011 respectively, when current contracts which involve those areas' recyclables being sorted at other facilities end.
Councillor Alan Thompson, executive member for the environment at Northumberland county council, said: “The new recycling plant has been a great success, so it is good to know that Morpeth's recycled waste will also be sent there soon. We have invested heavily on the latest technology to enable Northumberland to lead the way when it comes to waste reduction and recycling, and are very pleased to see residents supporting us by doing their bit for the environment.”
Mid UK fined over odour problems at Lincolnshire site
Lincolnshire-based waste management company Mid UK Recycling has been fined £2,000 and ordered to pay full Environment Agency costs of £2,965 after admitting to breaching the environmental permit at its site at Caythorpe in Lincolnshire.
The company pleaded guilty at Grantham Magistrates Court last week to having allowed bad smells to escape from the site on May 13 2008, prompting complaints from local residents. The Agency said officers investigating the smells were told that windrows used to compost material had been turned on the day and there had also been screening and shredding of green waste. The following day they described seeing two large piles of soggy grass material that had not been incorporated into the windrows and although the piles were not there two days later, more green waste was delivered that was wet and spilling leachate. The company explained that its attentions had been focused on dealing with a fire on site which started on May 6 and burned for three days, and that, since the odour incident, the composting process was now monitored more closely.
After the hearing Environment Agency officer David Hutchinson said: “It is clear that failures on the site at the time of the incident lead to odours that had a significant impact of the local community. In such situations the Environment Agency will not hesitate to take enforcement action. We do however, acknowledge the measures taken by the operator since the incident and the overall improvement in site management.”
Metals recyclers welcome scrappage scheme extension
Business secretary Peter Mandelson revealed last Monday (September 28) that the initiative, which offers car and van owners £2,000 to scrap their old vehicles and buy a new one, would receive £100 million more in government funding (see letsrecycle.com story). And, the director-general of the BMRA, Ian Hetherington, claimed the extension of the scheme would be good news for the metal recycling sector.
He said: “The BMRA is pleased that the government has extended the scrappage scheme. So far, it has helped to bring increased capacity into the industry at a time of otherwise reduced volumes for metal recyclers and is good for business. The scrappage scheme has real environmental and economic benefits: some BMRA members are achieving material recovery rates in excess of 85% on ELVs and the materials are being re-used.
DR Congo delegation visits North-West waste sites
A high-level local government delegation from DR Congo has visited a number of waste management sites in the North-West in a bid to gain first hand knowledge of best practice in sustainable waste management.
Both the first minister and minister for infrastructure from the Katanga region of the central African country were shown around sites including a number of facilities being developed by Viridor-Laing under its PFI-funded waste contract with the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority. The visit was hosted environmental consultancy Wardell Armstrong, which is involved in helping to develop a funding strategy for a more modern waste management system in DR Congo.
Ken Pearson, principal waste manager for Wardell Armstrong said: “Proposals had already been submitted to the Katanga government for a more modern and efficient waste resource management strategy. This UK visit was therefore an important step in giving our distinguished visitors extra confidence, adding credibility to our recommendations, and briefing them on legislation standards and current practices. It also allowed them to see for themselves some examples of modern sites engineered to the highest European standards.”
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