A 51-year-old man from Lincolnshire has been given a suspended prison sentence for illegally storing and burning waste, including fridges, at a site in Holbeach, the Environment Agency has said.
A statement from the Agency on Friday (August 20) said that Simon Mason, of Bens Gate Road, Holbeach, was found to have burned a variety of waste at his property without an environmental permit. He was also found to be storing more than 600 fridges at the site.
The Agency said Mr Mason was sentenced at Lincoln crown court, where his 8-month prison sentence was suspended for 2 years on the condition that he complete 250 hours of unpaid work and complies with a 7pm to 7am curfew.
The Environment Agency added that his available assets of £8,317 were confiscated, despite the fact it was calculated he benefited from his illegal waste activities by £144,000.
Fridges
Mr Mason is a registered waste carrier and told Environment Agency officers that he had operated a waste business at the site for a number of years.
The statement from the Agency said he collected waste from house clearances and was also paid by an electrical store to take away waste fridges.
“He burned some of the waste, including fridges, and stored the rest at his property,” the statement said.
Fridges are classed as hazardous material and require special disposal.
Visit
The Environment Agency said that officers visited the site on six occasions, beginning in April 2018, and told Mason verbally and in writing to stop bringing waste to the site and burning it.
They also told him to take the waste to an authorised waste site for recycling or disposal, and later issued him with statutory notices.
However, on returning to the site, they found more waste had been brought to the site and burned.
Waste observed at the site during the multiple visits included household waste, furniture, mattresses, clothing, paint cans, toilets, televisions and numerous fridges.
Judge John Pini QC told Mr Mason: “You started running this waste disposal business. You went into it with staggering naivety. It’s pretty obvious to absolutely anybody that you can’t dispose of this waste by burning it, putting toxic fumes into the environment. I fail to understand why you did not grasp that.”
‘Exhausted’
Helen Clayton from the Environment Agency’s Waste North Team said: “Storing and burning waste in this way saved the cost of legal disposal and put the environment at real risk. This result should serve as a warning for others that we take illegal waste activity extremely seriously and we will take enforcement action against those who flout the law.
“Despite our advice, Mr Mason showed a deliberate disregard for the law and we welcome this sentence, which sends a powerful message to anyone in Mr Mason’s position that waste crime will not pay.”
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
