Waste management firm given £12k fine

Dow Waste Management Limited (which recently changed its name to Dow Group Limited) pled guilty to failing to properly describe their waste when completing waste transfer notes, and failing to have a system in place to identify problems.

The issue was identified following investigations carried out by SEPA into Muirhouse Landmill Limited in Strathblane which itself was fined £37,000 after landfilling inappropriate waste at their site for over two and a half years.

Only licensed to accept inert material such as sand, gravel and stone, SEPA’s investigators found a whole range of degradable material including wood, plastics, polystyrene, carpet, metals, paper, toys, shoes, books, clothing, tyres, and hessian sacks on the site which were causing pollution.

SEPA’s point of contact (and the named technically competent person) for Muirhouse was, until October 2011, one of the company’s directors.

As he was also a director of Dow Waste Management Ltd, and the investigation came to identify that on occasion Dow Waste Management Ltd’s waste transfer notes had not properly identified and described the nature of their waste, nor was there a system in place to identify notes that weren’t properly completed.

This made it difficult for people to whom the waste is transferred to know how and where it can be disposed of legally.

SEPA chief officer Anne Anderson said: “Every day SEPA works to protect and enhance Scotland’s environment and we’re clear that compliance is non-negotiable.

“It’s encouraging that Dow Waste Management Limited was fined £12,000 for on occasions failing to properly identify and describe their waste which made it more difficult for people dealing with those wastes further down the line to satisfy themselves that they could accept the waste.”