A London waste company has this month been fined a total of £43,000 after attempting to illegally export maggot-infested household waste to India. Community Waste Ltd of Earls Court pleaded guilty at Maidstone Crown Court to illegally exporting shipments of unsorted household waste to India in breach of the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations SI 1994/1137, which has now been replaced by the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations SI 2007/1711. The Court heard that on 13 and 14 October 2005, three Environment Agency officers and two Scottish Environmental Protection Agency officers visited Thamesport in Kent, and inspected eleven 40-foot containers, which were due to be shipped to India.
These containers were labelled as containing paper waste, but when they were examined officers found that Community Waste Ltd had not sorted or separated the waste into separate waste streams and had not removed any non-recycled material. Instead of paper they found cardboard, tins, plastic bottles, packaging, dog food, cans, nappies, plastic flower pots, toothpaste tubes, yoghurt tubs, glass, metals, textiles, council collected rubbish and food waste. Two of the containers also contained maggots. All 11 containers were banned from being exported because of this illegal mixture of waste.
The Environment Agency is responsible for enforcing the regulation of shipments of waste, and it is illegal to export waste for disposal. However it can be sent abroad for recycling providing it is sorted properly and the destination country wishes to accept it. Regulatory waste officer Dr Helen Ahmed said, "We are delighted with the fine imposed on the company by the Court, which reflects the seriousness of the offence. This successful prosecution shows that we won't hesitate to pursue companies who export illegally."
