A Costly Mistake
Thursday 22 December 2011
Costly mistake for man when rubbish turned up here
A man from Sittingbourne has been fined £200 and ordered to pay £150 in costs for failing to secure that the transfer of controlled waste was to an authorised person.
The defendant from Sittingbourne was charged with a failure to comply with a duty of care imposed by Section 34(1)(c) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, in that he failed to secure that the transfer of controlled waste was to an authorised person. This is an offence under section 34(6) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 Act.
The defendant attended Maidstone Magistrates’ Court in December, where he pleaded guilty. The court heard how on 13 June 2011, one of the Council’s Street Wardens found waste deposited at the side of the road between Bysingwood Road and Tin Shop Hill. The waste consisted of soft playground surfacing, some boxes and a builder’s bag.
Examination of the waste identified it as originating from a Primary School in Hampshire. Investigations found that the defendant had been subcontracted to install a playground.
On 23 June 2011 the defendant was interviewed under caution and explained that he had worked in Hampshire and recognised the waste pictured. The defendant said that his van was waiting for repairs after the playground installation in Hampshire and that two men had approached him to remove the waste for him. The defendant reached an agreement with the two men and paid them £50.
The defendant admitted under Caution that as a playground installer, he was aware that such disposal of controlled waste required a waste management licence and admitted that he had not made sufficient enquiries to that effect.
As the defendant could not tell us who dumped the waste, or who he gave it to, he was prosecuted. The Justices considered the facts of the matter and the mitigation put forward and decided to fine the defendant £200 and ordered him to pay £150 in costs.
Geraldine Chidley, Principal Street Warden for Swale Borough Council, said “We take flytipping very seriously and will do whatever we can to find out who is responsible and bring them to justice. You have a responsibility to ensure that your waste is disposed of properly. Residents tell us repeatedly that they want the borough to remain clean and with that as our mantra this is proof that we will prosecute where we have to.
"We work with a whole range of organisations to tackle flytipping and if the publicity of successful convictions given to us by our colleagues in the media doesn’t act as deterrent enough then offenders can receive fines up to £50,000, and/or imprisonment. Residents want Swale to remain clean and green and we intend to keep it so."
Ideally the Council wants to find the characters who actually deposited the waste. This is why individuals and companies must comply with this duty of care. By complying with the legislation, individuals and companies will not only be able to assist with our enquiries so we can catch the actual flytippers but they will also ensure that they are compliant with the requirements of the law, and they will be helping to keep Swale clean.
More information on the requirements can be found at the Environment Agency website.
