A waste management company has been handed a 510,000 pound fine for illegally storing thousands of tonnes of dangerous combustible waste. Winters Haulage Limited, based in Hitchen, Hertfordshire, was storing refuse-derived fuel (RDF), (combustible waste burned for fuel in energy-from-waste facilities).
Liam Patrick Winters, the company’s director, denied there was a fire risk from the RDF. However, an assessment by Cambridge Fire and Rescue Services led to creating an emergency plan due to the risk of acrid fumes to nearby schools, nurseries and homes, all within 2.5 kilometres of the site.
REL and ERP Group's illegal storage of waste
REL and ERP Group had been illegally storing baled waste that they called refuse-derived fuel (RDF) in and around Christchurch for several years. REL had been storing waste near Belfast in North Canterbury before ECan intervened with an abatement notice to remove the waste.
ERP Group, on the other hand, continued their illegal waste storage around Christchurch for several years. The situation took a turn for the worse when the company went into voluntary liquidation, leaving its landlords with a staggering burden. They were left to deal with thousands of tonnes of waste and a cleanup that is estimated to cost millions, a financial blow that could have been avoided.