UK agency fines wate tyre company

ERJ staff report (DS)

Great Harwood, Lancashire, UK -- The operator of an illegal waste tyre site in northern England was on 12 October 2009 sentenced to 150 hours unpaid work for operating without a permit and ordered to pay costs of 500 GBP, after pleading guilty at Accrington Magistrates Court.

Craig Johnson ran a business collecting waste tyres from businesses and members of the public, but he failed to apply for a permit to store the tyres prior to them being sent to final disposal. Anyone who stores tyres needs to either register an exemption with the Environment Agency, or apply for an environmental permit.

The Environment Agency visited the site in November 2008, and found over 3,000 tyres being stored on open ground and on a trailer. The site was not secured and is close to local houses. This posed a significant risk that vandals could have set fire to the tyres.

Anthony Swarbrick, Environmental Crime Officer at the Environment Agency said, “By operating without the necessary permit, Mr Johnson was not only under-cutting legitimate businesses in the area, but the site didn't have the necessary security measures in place to protect local residents and the environment.

The tyres have now been cleared from the site.

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Press release from Environment Agency