One of the UK’s biggest waste firms has lost a case in the court of appeal to overturn a criminal conviction for exporting dirty waste to China. The Environment Agency, which brought a successful criminal prosecution a year ago against Biffa Waste Services Ltd, which was convicted of trying to send used nappies and other contaminated materials illegally to China, welcomed Friday’s ruling and said exports of this kind of illegal waste “blighted the lives and environment of people overseas”. The ruling has clarified the rules about exporting waste overseas.
The case focused on an incident in May 2015, in which Biffa dispatched 175 tonnes of waste from its recycling plant in Edmonton, north London, destined for two reprocessing plants in China. Instead of waste paper, investigators discovered a mix of used nappies, sanitary towels and incontinence pads, sealed bags containing faeces, hot water bottles, hi-vis jackets and food packaging. Biffa was fined £350,000. Household waste cannot be exported for paper recycling and the court of appeal judges said that waste must be categorised at the outset of its journey rather than at its final destination – in this case in Edmonton rather than China.
Sarah Mills, the enforcement manager at the Environment Agency, said: “The court of appeal’s judgement in upholding Biffa’s conviction for exporting waste collected from households, labelled as paper, justifies our decision to prosecute the company. Illegal waste exports blight the lives and environment of people overseas. We continue to treat illegal waste exports as a priority and will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those found to break the rules.”
Source: Guardian
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