British Recyclers Hit With Maximum Fine for Illegal Shipments

Two British businesses that attempted to export 259 metric tons of mixed waste to China from the United Kingdom have been fined the maximum amount by the Grantham, U.K. Magistrates’ Court. The shipment, ten containers from Lincolnshire, U.K., was stopped at the port of Felixstowe after an inspection found the loads were not suitable for shipment to China.
 

Miriam Tordoff, prosecuting for the Environment Agency, told magistrates that the U.K. and China are both signatories of a convention that aims to moderate waste movements across boundaries, encourage treatment and disposal of hazardous waste as close as possible to its generation and minimize the generation of hazardous and other wastes.
 

According to the Environment Agency, the containers were loaded at the scrap metal recycling firm BW Riddle in Bourne, U.K. Colin Riddle, a partner in the firm, admitted breaching the regulations and also failing to fill in paperwork correctly describing the waste. He was fined £5,000 (US$7,971), the maximum for the illegal shipment offense, and £4,000 for failing in his duty of care.
 

Chungs UK Ltd., which sources and exports scrap metal and plastic, primarily to China, also pleaded guilty to breaching the regulations and was fined £5,000, the maximum for the offense when heard in the magistrates’ court. 

The businesses were also each ordered to pay £6,500 towards costs.

EA’s Tordoff told the court that although the loads were not hazardous, samples showed that the mix was not right for automatic export to countries signed up to the convention and could only be exported with a proper description and to a country that willingly accepted the shipment.
 

According to the EA, China had not agreed to accept the waste from Bourne and the lack of description of the waste meant there was no prior agreement to show that it would be managed in an environmentally sound way. Permission would also have been needed from the Environment Agency.
 

Tordoff added that both companies had admitted that it was not the first time they had exported this type of waste to China without notification or consent of the authorities.
 

EA says on the shipment’s transfer notes the waste was described as “Type A” with a waste code indicating ‘aluminum from construction and demolition waste.’ Instead, the containers held a mix of steel car parts, copper wiring, aluminum foil and alloy parts, rubber and plastic hoses, jubilee clips, pieces of car tire, pieces of PVC window frames, plastic car parts, rubber car belts, circuit board, chipboard and wood fragments, glass, foam, brick and stone.