Working with Rochdale borough council, the Agency action saw three firms fined this month: Chemclear UK Ltd of Rowton, Warrington; and Chemtech Waste Management Ltd and Envirosol Ltd of the Environmental Resource Group of Brownhills, West Midlands. All three had pleaded guilty to the charges brought against them.
The sentencing of the companies on September 5 2016 follows on from an earlier hearing at Manchester Magistrates’ Court in July 2016. Also in July, another action in the case, saw Blue Sky Environmental Ltd plead guilty to offences of distributing a dangerous product and supplying a corrosive substance.
Blue Sky Environmental was fined £2,500 on each of the two charges to which a guilty plea had been entered. The company could be contacted by letsrecycle.com for comment.
Recalled
Rochdale council explained that the case stemmed from an investigation by the borough “into the distribution of a dangerous product that had been recalled from public sale”.
Rochdale council noted that the court heard how in May 2014, Middleton-based chemical manufacturers Robert McBride Ltd made the decision to securely dispose of their recalled batches of Oven Pride oven cleaner, which had been taken off shelves due to a fault with the child-resistant caps.
The authority explained: “Blue Sky Environment (sic) Ltd was asked to dispose of 3 batches of the recalled product, despite the company not being licensed to accept or treat the hazardous waste. The company subsequently sold the batches on to a wholesaler who supplied the unsafe product to retailers and consumers across the country.”
“This case should serve as a deterrent to other people who may be thinking about committing such crimes”
Grant Talbot
Environment Agency
Illegal movement
The fines announced this month related to the illegal movement, storage and treatment of hazardous waste against the three parties in the supply chain. District Judge Sanders sentenced Chemclear (UK) Limited, Chemtech Waste Management Limited and Envirosol Ltd at Tameside Magistrates’ Court on 5 September 2016.
Chemtech and Envirosol were both fined £150,000 while Chemclear UK Limited was fined £54,000. All three companies were ordered to pay a contribution of £8,574.51 each towards the Environment Agency’s costs.
‘Tough Action’
Grant Talbot, environment officer from the Environment Agency, said: “This case shows that the Environment Agency will not hesitate to take tough action against criminals who have no regard for people and the environment.
“This case should serve as a deterrent to other people who may be thinking about committing such crimes. Waste crime causes environmental damage and undermines legitimate business. It is a blight on local communities, and that was evident in this case.”
Councillor Janet Emsley, Rochdale’s cabinet member for culture, health and wellbeing, said: “The lack of care taken towards consumers in the case is shocking and I am pleased to note that the sentences reflect the severity of the crimes.”
Waste Hierarchy
Chemclear UK Ltd said that it did not wish to comment further on the case, noting that a guilty plea had been entered. A spokesman for the Environmental Resource Group said: “We are pleased that this matter has been resolved and are obviously disappointed that the group finds itself in this position.
“We acknowledge there was a breach of regulations arising from a reclassification process. We complied with our interpretation of the regulations and we had previously discussed at length the Waste Hierarchy with regards to reclassification with the Environment Agency.
“We had obtained detailed guidance and once the breach was notified to us, we ceased all reclassification.”
[updated 11 January 2019]
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