The trial has begun today (October 24) in relation to the Environment Agencys largest ever investigation into alleged illegal exports of waste electrical and electronic equipment from the UK to Nigeria.
Seven defendants four individuals and three companies are scheduled to appear at Basildon Crown Court in Essex in a case being heard by His Honour Judge Black. A further seven defendants five individuals and two companies are being tried separately in relation to the same investigation once the first trial has concluded.
Two court hearings have already been held in the lead-up to todays trial, during which it emerged that the defendants were facing charges relating to 11 containers of hazardous waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) being exported to Nigeria, containing a total of 158 tonnes of material.
The charges have been brought under the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Shipment Regulation 2006, which restricts the shipment of waste materials to non-OECD countries.
The seven defendants set to appear in court today, as listed on the Courts Service website, are:
- Godwin C Ezeemo;
- Reliance Export Limited;
- BJ Electronics (UK) Ltd;
- Nnamdi C Ezechuwu;
- Joe Benson;
- Orient Export Limited;
- Chika Ezeemo.
Todays trial marks the culmination of an Environment Agency investigation, ‘Operation Boron’, which began in mid-2008. In October 2010 it emerged that the regulatory body was taking action against nine individuals (see letsrecycle.com story). A court hearing was held in January 2011, when details of the charges were revealed (see letsrecycle.com story ), before a hearing in April 2011 saw a date for this full trial set for last month (October 17) (see letsrecycle.com story) this was later put back to today for unspecified reasons.
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Last month, the Environment Agencys recently-appointed head of waste and illegals, Mat Crocker, confirmed illegal WEEE exports were a priority area for the Agency as it seeks to tackle waste crime (see letsrecycle.com story).
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