UK Agency Fines Scrap Yard

Ace Vauxhaull Parts, a scrap recycler in Middeport, UK, pleaded guilty at Newcastle-Under-Lyme Magistrates Court to a charge relating to it keeping and treating waste motor vehicles without a Waste Management License.

The charge was brought by the Environment Agency under Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The company was fined £300 and ordered to pay £1075.50p costs.

Speaking after the case an Environment Agency officer involved in the investigation, said: "The End of Life Vehicle regulations have been introduced to both maximize the recovery of waste vehicle-components and fluids and protect the environment.

"We have been proactive in informing such businesses of their obligations under the regulations. Any scrap yard or vehicle breaker not complying with them is operating outside the law and we will not hesitate to take action when a company is found to be doing this."

For the Environment Agency, Kalbir Gill told the court that the company ran a vehicle dismantling business in Middleport, and it was not required to have a Waste Management Licens to permit the breaking of vehicles on site.

The introduction of the End of Life Vehicle regulations in 2003 meant that a Waste Management License was required for the dismantling or treatment of vehicles containing various polluting materials, such as oils, fuels and brake fluid. Because of this, the Environment Agency initiated a campaign to target unlicensed sites that were carrying out this type of activity.

In October, 2003, the Agency wrote to the company, outlining the changes in legislation which would affect them if they wished to continue operating. The letter also contained a questionnaire that the company was asked to complete if they planned to continue operating.

Ace Vauxhall Parts did not return the questionnaire. Agency officers attended the site on several occasions but on each occasion it was not possible to speak to the company manager.

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Last April, two agency officers attended the company’s site. They discussed the new directive with the site’s owner. The site was fully operational and a number of breaches of the regulations were seen. The officers gave the site owner an application pack for a Waste Management License before they left and advised that he should apply without delay. No application was received from the site’s operator.