Recycling company fined £40,000 for breaching environmental permit
Monday 17th November 2025
The recycling company has been fined £40,000 and ordered to pay almost £50,000 in costs after pleading guilty to breaching its environmental permit.
The Environment Agency (EA) had been monitoring the site since 2021 following numerous complaints about dust, odour, and noise. The EA discovered that a large quantity of waste material had spread onto the neighbouring land. The waste was a type of ash used in aggregate construction.
The EA required the company to operate within the boundaries of the permit. They later returned to find that large amounts of waste were still on the site. The company argued that, as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, the waste had accumulated, and it was proving challenging to dispose of. The EA informed the company that the waste had to be removed by 3 January 2022.
On 4 January 2022, officers returned to the site and found that, although the waste had decreased, a substantial amount still covered five acres of the site. As a result, the company was prosecuted by the EA.