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West Midlands wood recycler fined £61,000 for ‘flouting’ permits

A West Midlands-based director and his waste wood recycling operations have been fined more than £61,000 following a case brought by the Environment Agency, the regulator says.

Environment Agency officers found such large stockpiles of wood at the Lodgewood Recycling site they say there was 'no space to quarantine waste in the event of a fire'

Director Robert Moody pleaded guilty to failing to ensure his companies complied with environmental permits at Dudley Magistrates’ Court on 20 January, the Agency says. The regulator added that he was ordered to pay fines and costs of £22,170.

Mr Moody ran three companies in the West Midlands – Berkswell Recycling Ltd, Hollybush Recycling Ltd and Lodgewood Recycling Ltd – each of which stored “excessive amounts of wood for a prolonged period”, which the Agency says posed “serious fire and health risks”. Each was ordered to pay fines and costs of £13,070.

Mr Moody headed up Jack Moody Recycling Ltd, of Warstone Road, Wolverhampton, the Agency says, which was an umbrella company for his group.

Iain Storer, installations lead for the Agency in the West Midlands, said: “We welcome this sentence which should act as a deterrent to others considering flouting the law.

“These sites posed a significant environmental threat due to the high risk of fire and potentially significant impact to local communities and amenities.”

Letsrecycle.com contacted Jack Moody Recycling for comment.

Permits

The Environment Agency says it offered Mr Moody frequent advice but he did not heed warnings about how he was failing to meet regulations.

These sites posed a significant environmental threat due to the high risk of fire
– Iain Storer, installations lead for the Environment Agency in the West Midlands

The warnings escalated in September 2017 when the defendant acknowledged that his companies were operating outside their limits, the Agency says.

Agency officers say they found stockpiles of wood so large there were “insufficient fire breaks” and “no space to quarantine waste in the event of a fire” at the Lodgewood Recycling site, near Telford.

Officers estimate there was a stockpile of wood weighing more than 5,000 tonnes at the Berkswell Recycling site, near Hampton-in-Arden, rather than the permitted amount of 1,620 tonnes. Both shredded and unshredded wood were mixed in the stockpiles, the Agency says, “increasing the potential for self-combustion.”

The Agency says there were huge stockpiles of waste wood situated on an area of the Hollybush Recycling site, near Cannock, which had no concrete surfacing to prevent pollution of the ground.

The Agency says it served each company enforcement notices requiring them to reduce stockpile sizes within a six-week period in October 2017, but these were not complied with.

The Agency then served the companies suspension notices in March 2018 to prohibit any further receipt of waste, “until the risk of pollution was reduced.”

‘Flagrant disregard’

District Judge Wheeler, presiding over the case, said the offences had been carried out across a significant period and were “not far short of a flagrant disregard for the law”, according to the Environment Agency.

Mr Storer added: “As a regulator, the Environment Agency will not hesitate to pursue companies that fail to meet its obligations to the environment.

“The conditions of an environmental permit are designed to protect people and the environment.

“Failure to comply with these legal requirements is a serious offence that can damage the environment, harm human health and undermine local legitimate waste companies.”

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