The Environment Agency has successfully prosecuted a former firm director for unlawfully shipping prohibited household rubbish to Indonesia in 2019 from a facility in Droitwich, Worcestershire, including diapers, clothes, textiles, tins, and electrical devices.
Tianyong Wang, 43, of Welcombe Grove in Solihull, Warwickshire, was fined £1,200 and told to pay costs of $10,000 at Kidderminster Magistrates Court on Wednesday, August 10, 2022.
At a prior court in April 2022, he had admitted guilt to ordering the garbage to be sent to Indonesia by his since-dissolved firm Berry Polymer Limited. The debris was listed on the shipping documentation as plastic, which may be sent to Indonesia for recycling.
According to Howard McCann, who was representing the Environment Agency in court, between June 27 and July 5, 2019, Wang ordered his firm to ship 382 tonnes of domestic rubbish to Indonesia through the ports of Felixstowe and Southampton.
About 1,590 diapers or sanitary goods, 1,338 electrical devices, and 33,639 tins or cans were all present in the rubbish.
Numerous articles of clothes, linens, and rags, unopened plastic bags, glass, wood, golf balls, toys, a used toilet brush, and contaminated food and drink containers were among the other pollutants.
The defendant was Berry Polymer Limited’s only director at the time of the offence, according to Mr. McCann, who testified before the court. Berry Polymer Limited was dissolved on August 24, 2021.
At a price of £270 per tonne, Wang had agreed to sell a broker around 500 tonnes of plastic bottle garbage. The garbage was loaded at “Berry Polymer Limited, 20 The Furlong Droitwich WR9 9AH,” according to a purchase order. Berry Polymer sent the broker an invoice for 382.26 tonnes of “plastic bottles” totaling £103,210.20.
On July 4, 2019, in the ports of Southampton (17 containers) and Felixstowe (5), Environment Agency personnel performing initial checks of part of the 22 containers found the violation.
During these examinations, considerable pollution, fly infestations, and rotten decomposing odours were discovered.
At that point, the containers were determined to be unsuitable for export, preventing their further transport to Indonesia.
Five of the containers were taken to the Environment Agency’s Felixstowe inspection facility for a thorough inspection; one of the investigated bales was so awful that one officer became physically ill.
Finally, the plant in Droitwich received all of the containers for further processing.
When questioned, Wang, who was away from home at the time, said that his company’s customary bale inspection had either not taken place or had been inadequate since the material delivered had not been as advertised.
Wang made a “blunder,” according to District Judge Strongman, which lost him his company and his reputation.
Senior investigating officer Sham Singh of the Environment Agency said:
“This prosecution sends out a strong message that we will investigate and where necessary prosecute anyone found to be involved in illegally exporting waste.”
“Waste crime can have a serious environmental impact and puts communities at risk. It undermines legitimate business and the investment and economic growth that goes with it.”
“We support legitimate businesses and are proactively supporting them by disrupting and stopping the illegal waste exports.”
If someone has reason to believe that a business is acting improperly, they can call the Environment Agency at 0800 80 70 60 or Crimestoppers at 0800 555 111 to report it in confidence.
The cost
According to Regulation 55(1) of the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007, Tianyong Wang, as the director of Berry Polymer Limited (company number 11887373 – dissolved), caused that business to commit the offence of transporting waste listed in Article 36(1)(b) of the European Waste Shipments Regulation 1013/2006, namely 22 containers of waste collected from household, between June 27 and July 5, 2019.
Background
According to Article 36 of the Trash Shipment Regulations, residential waste cannot be exported to non-OECD (Organisation for Economic and Development) nations.
Regulation 23 and Regulation 55(1) of the TFS Regulations 2007 establish the offence of shipping waste to a non-OECD nation in violation of the ban. It is a severe liability offence.
Until the garbage has been retrieved at the facility in the country of destination, a shipment of waste is considered to have begun from the point of loading in the country of dispatch.
Because of this, even though the containers were blocked from leaving Felixstowe and Southampton, the export is not considered to be an attempt.
Garbage that is on the green list, such as plastic waste, must have been properly separated or collected separately.
When garbage is properly sorted, pollutants are sufficiently eliminated so that any contamination that remains is negligible and does not preclude the waste from being classified as green list waste.