Waste firm fined £1.5m for illegal exports of rubbish
Watch: Malcolm Lythgo, Environment Agency
A familiar name on the country’s bin collections has been fined £1.5m for breaking export laws.
A judge said the actions by Biffa Waste Services Ltd, which is based in Buckinghamshire, were “reckless, bordering on deliberate.”
The breaches of export law were uncovered by the Environment Agency and involved contracts to ship large amounts of waste to India and Indonesia from Southampton Docks.
Material exported illegally included 50,000 tins; 40,000 plastic bags; 25,000 items of clothing; 3,000 nappies.
The Environment Agency discovered the shipments after introducing extra measures to tackle illegal exports, including working closely with HMRC to review customs and packaging information.
Malcolm Lythgo, the head of waste regulation at the agency, said:
“The Environment Agency stopped the illegal export of almost 23,000 tonnes of unsuitable waste in 2019/20. We have stepped up increased monitoring of international waste shipments.”
“We will pursue those who blight the lives of overseas communities through illegal exports."
The court was told that Biffa’s rolling monthly contracts to move the household waste to India or Indonesia were worth a combined £39,500.
The company was convicted of four breaches of waste shipment regulations between October 2018 and April 2019.
In addition to the £1.5m fine, Biffa was ordered to pay costs of £153,827.99, and a proceeds of crime order of £38,388.
Watch: Malcolm Lythgo, Environment Agency
However in a statement, Biffa has strongly defended its actions, saying: "No public interest has been served by the Environment Agency in bringing this prosecution. The UK does not have the infrastructure to recycle all of the wastepaper that householders send for recycling, meaning export is essential to avoid having to landfill or incinerate this valuable resource."
"The case established that the paper we were sending for export was over 99% pure. This is no different from the waste paper that is recycled in the UK. It would have been used as raw material to make cardboard packaging. The recycling industry has tried to engage with the Environment Agency on developing standards for export that reflect the realities of recycling that it can be measured against, but the Agency has not cooperated".
"Biffa no longer exports wastepaper outside the OECD but the industry overall has no choice but to do so. We urgently request that a set of coherent policies are put in place that either put exports on a stable footing or stimulate the necessary investment in the UK so that it is no longer needed".