Business partners Louise Bland and David McNeill from Gateshead have been sentenced following a joint investigation by the Environment Agency and Newcastle City Council into multiple waste offences.
Mr McNeill pleaded guilty to four fly-tipping offences, operating an illegal waste site, failing to comply with a notice to clear the site and also failing to produce waste transfer notes. Ms Bland pleaded guilty to operating an illegal waste site and failing to produce waste transfer notes.
Although they had been issued with a waste carrier's licence in July 2020, they had failed to ensure that the waste was taken to an authorised facility. On four occasions, Newcastle City Council Enforcement Officers traced fly-tipped waste from across Newcastle back to the people who had employed the pair for waste removal services via Facebook.
The Environment Agency then became aware that the business partners, operating under the name NE1 Garden and Waste Services, had leased a former scrap yard and were also dumping waste there. This site had been registered with the Environment Agency under an exemption from an environmental permit, but an investigation found that the activities going on there were beyond the exemption and a permit should have been obtained instead.
The pair were ordered to clear the site in September 2020, though further checks revealed more waste had been dumped at the site. A further notice was issued in October 2020 to clear the site, and a request was made in November 2020 for waste transfer notes to be produced for the waste taken by them to the site. The waste transfer notes were not produced.
Mr McNeill and Ms Bland were handed a 12 month community order, fined £100 and ordered to pay a £95 victim surcharge. They also have to do a 25 day and 20 day rehabilitation activity, respectively.
Speaking about the offence, a Newcastle City Council spokesperson said, "Fly-tipping is not only illegal, it looks unsightly, damages land, and can lead to pollution of the environment. Illegal operators undercut legitimate businesses, and undermine efforts to dispose of and recover waste safely.
"We have a zero-tolerance approach to fly-tipping and as a council we are doing all we can to catch and prosecute those who spoil our communities by dumping rubbish. Local people should be wary of any businesses that only operates through social media and do not have a landline phone number or business address.
"They should also check that anyone who says they can take away their rubbish is registered to do so. As always we would encourage people to help, and when safe to do so, provide us with information so we have the greatest chance to catch these criminals."
