A recycling company in Hartlepool has been prosecuted for storing and shredding over 120,000 tyres at an unlicensed recycling depot, which sparked a local safety concern. Niramax Recycling and Manufacturing Ltd, were fined a total of £15,000 at Hartlepool Magistrates' Court on 20 November 2006. They were first contacted by the Environment Agency in 2002 and were told that the site required a waste management licence to store and process waste tyres. However by March 2006, the Agency had found 128,000 tyres on site, causing fears of a fire risk. Niramax had submitted an initial application for a licence in 2002, however they did not provide the necessary fee or financial evidence for the application to be fully processed.
The company pleaded guilty to four offences under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, and their operation is now regulated at a nearby licensed facility.
In similar news, the Environment Agency is warning warehouse owners to be on their guard against illegal waste operators, after finding 30,000 waste tyres dumped at a warehouse in Colchester. The tyres were found covering the floor of the 7,800 square foot building in Hythe Quay, to a depth of three metres and will cost the owner thousands to clear. The Agency believes that waste tyres from many local businesses have ended up in the warehouse.
Investigating officer John Parish said, "Owners of empty warehouses must make sure they have good security measures in place and that their property is regularly checked. It doesn't take long for thousands of tyres to be dumped and the clean-up costs can be enormous." The Agency is currently working to trace those responsible for dumping the tyres.
