The Welsh regulator, Natural Resources Wales (NRW), has announced that a scrap metal firm has been ordered to pay more than £42,000 for permit breaches. 

In a statement yesterday (11 January), NRW outlined that Ammanford Recycling Ltd was sentenced at Swansea Crown Court on 5 January 2024. The company was fined a total of £42,000 and must also pay £4,652.42 in costs and a surcharge of £2,000., the statement added.

This came after NRW’s investigation, carried out in February and March 2023, “found that an incident had occurred where oil had escaped from the site onto neighbouring land and it was not immediately responded to by the operator”.

NRW outlined that under the permit,  the operator is required to immediately implement control and remediation procedures in line with the necessary standards following a potentially polluting leak or spillage on site.

“The company also failed to comply with another permit condition to keep waste clearly segregated and identified from wastes being kept on site for exempt waste management operations,” NRW said.

Ammanford Recycling Ltd offers scrap metal recycling across South Wales, including locations such as Ammanford, Carmarthen, Llanelli, Swansea, Cardiff and Newport.

‘Several conditions’

David Ellar, senior waste regulations team officer at NRW, said:“Every business in the waste industry must have a permit to move, store or treat waste, and to ensure it is carried out in a way that does not pose risk to the environment or human health.

“This facility was found to be in breach of several conditions within their permit, which was evidently having a negative impact on the surrounding environment.

“Wherever possible, we work with operators to make sure their activities comply with the law, but when a business continues to fail to comply we will take legal action.”

Source: letsrecycle.com 12th January 2024