Welsh recycling firm has licence suspended

No waste can be accepted until further notice at the site operated by Recyclo Limited, in the Sandycroft Industrial Estate, near Deeside, following the action by the Environment Agency.

It appears that problems experienced when the £3.5 million facility started up in 2005 (see letsrecycle.com story) have still not been sorted out after two years of operations.

Prior to the licence suspension, the company recycled up to 130,000 tonnes of non-hazardous waste each year, including plastics, wood and cardboard, using Dutch technology. The Agency said its officers have been working with the company since the plant opened to make sure it operated within the conditions of its licence.

However, it said a number of routine inspections and audits carried out by Agency officers found the company “was acting outside the confines of its licence”. An Enforcement Notice was issued in April 2007, giving timescales for compliance which the Agency said were not met.

The Agency could not give exact details of how the licence had been breached because it is possible that further legal action may be taken against Recyclo.

However, a spokesman for the Agency told letsrecycle.com: “It's not just one or two things but a number of non-compliance issues since the company started up there in 2005. When you start-up, there's always a few teething problems but we're now talking about two years later and there's still a number of problems that haven't been sorted.”

The Agency said that Recyclo can operate again once the company has complied with the conditions of the licence.

Agency environment officer Lindsey Worrall added: “All waste facilities have to be run in a responsible manner to prevent harm to the environment, and local amenities. If a waste management facility is not run in this way it is unfair on all the operator's who have invested in their site infrastructure and procedures.”

Recyclo Ltd was unavailable for comment on the licence suspension this week.