Glasgow construction firm fined 16,000 for failing to ensure licenced disposal of waste

Glasgow based waste management firm, CMI Demolition Limited, received a £16,000 fine at Airdrie Sheriff Court yesterday (30 December) after the company failed to ensure the proper disposal of waste from their facility between March and June 2011. The company, which operates a waste transfer station on Clydeholm Road, Glasgow, knowingly allowed unlicensed contractors from OTL Plant & Haulage to transport and dispose of waste materials produced from CMI Demolition’s transfer station, over the four month period in 2011. Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, waste management companies have a legal duty of care to ensure that all operators who transport waste on behalf of the company are licenced by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) as legitimate waste carriers. Each producer of waste is also required to produce accurate Waste Transfer Notes as evidence of what type of waste it is, where waste materials are taken to, when and by who, to ensure waste is disposed of correctly and deter the potential for illegal dumping. SEPA was alerted to the breach in regulation following a prolonged investigation into the discovery of illegally dumped waste at a site on Avonhead Road near Longriggend, in North Lanarkshire. Official documents which were salvaged from the waste stockpiles allowed SEPA officers to trace the original owners of the refuse, who subsequently identified CMI Demolition Ltd as their waste management provider. While the illegal activities at Avonhead Road did not directly involve CMI Demolition Ltd, SEPA said the company is still liable to enforcement action for failing to carry out adequate background checks, provide accurate waste transfer documentation and ensuring waste produced from their transfer station was disposed of correctly. Jennifer Shearer, reporting officer from SEPA, said: “It’s critically important that waste management companies ensure their contractors are fully licenced and credible operators to transport their waste materials. Providing business to unlicensed groups or individuals is not only illegal, it undercuts legitimate waste carriers and impacts on the wider industry as a whole. “It is also important that waste management companies ensure their Duty of Care waste transfer paperwork is completed to the required standard, for every load of waste leaving their site, to ensure incidents like this do not happen.” Shearer added: “While the unravelling of this case has been a long process, involving a number of different companies and individuals from the waste industry, I hope the sentence handed down today serves as an important reminder that the price of non-compliance far outweighs the effort it takes to operate legitimately." ###