Lee Averies, the former director of two Wiltshire waste businesses who breached environmental regulations, has been banned from running a company for six years.
Mr Averies, 49, of Wanborough in Wiltshire, received the order in connection with his activities while director of Averies Recycling (Swindon) Ltd and Swindon Skips Ltd. Each company ran waste treatment and transfer sites in Swindon.
The Environment Agency cleared the Marshgate site following a fire in 2014
The order has been issued this month by the Insolvency Service. In his undertaking, Mr Averies did not dispute that he caused Averies Recycling to breach environmental legislation at its Marshgate site in Swindon.
The company was deemed to have held amounts of waste in excess of its permitted allowance at the site, which suffered a fire between July and September 2014.
Swindon Crown Court last month ordered Mr Averies to pay £200,000 from money he benefitted from the activities, following an application by the Environment Agency (see letsrecycle.com story).
The judge in that case awarded costs to the Environment Agency of £15,000 against Mr Averies, who is already serving a five-year ban from the waste industry.
He also did not dispute in his undertaking that his misconduct caused the second company, Swindon Skips, to also breach environmental legislation.
The Environment Agency found that Swindon Skips, which has also had a fire on its Brindley Close site in November 2013, had maintained inadequate security, stored waste where it was not permitted and failed to implement adequate fire breaks.
Effective from 1 April 2019, Mr Averies is banned for six years from directly or indirectly becoming involved, without the permission of the court, in the promotion, formation or management of a company.
Costs
David Brooks, chief investigator for the Insolvency Service, said: “Managing waste sites is a significant undertaking considering the amount of regulations you need to uphold to mitigate the impact on both the environment and local residents too.
“Managing waste sites is a significant undertaking considering the amount of regulations you need to uphold to mitigate the impact on both the environment and local residents too.”
David Brooks
Insolvency Service
“Six years is a substantial ban recognising that Lee Averies not only caused significant disruption to the surrounding area during the 57-day fire on the Marshgate site but his actions also caused the local authority and Environment Agency to incur hundreds and thousands pounds worth of costs, which are ultimately picked up by local residents and tax payers.”
Colin Chiverton, Environment Manager for the Environment Agency in Wiltshire, said: “The Environment Agency provided evidence to support Averies’ ban from holding a senior position within companies which sits alongside Averies’ current five-year ban from the waste industry.
“In addition to our own enforcement action, the Environment Agency supports agencies like the Insolvency Service to disrupt criminals operating in the waste sector, and their impact on legitimate business.”
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
