Exhaust Tyres and Batteries was found to have flouted the rules to store highly flammable tyres on a Northamptonshire site has been fined £100,000 and ordered to pay costs of £7,463
Synergy Tyres Limited, Daventry, had 2 exemptions to store waste and mechanically treat end-of-life tyres. However, it did not have an environmental permit to store or treat large numbers of tyres on site and was required to keep these to a minimum (40 tonnes over 7 days). Anecdotally, this is a common flaw in the exemption scheme, which we are told will come to an end soon, but the Environment Agency has been saying that since 2016.
Environment Agency officers discovered that Exhaust Tyres and Batteries Limited had deposited thousands of tyres over the course of a year.
Prosecuting for the Environment Agency, solicitor Sarah Dunne, told the court that Exhaust Tyres and Batteries (Worcester) Limited had shown “wilful blindness.” She said it was “common knowledge that there is a fire risk from the storage of waste tyres and that any responsible company should be aware of the regulations.” The court also heard how the waste was stored close to residential premises and a neighbouring industrial site.
The Environment Agency first became aware that Exhaust Tyres and Batteries (Worcester) Limited regularly deposited tyres unlawfully at the Synergy site in February 2021. When checked by the Environment Agency, the company’s records show that this illegal activity had happened between January 2020 until late February 2021.
Officers also found Exhaust Tyres and Batteries (Worcester) records of the delivery and transfer of the waste tyres were incomplete tyres, breaching statutory regulations.
Sentencing Exhaust Tyres and Batteries (Worcester) Limited, District Judge Nick Watson said he was satisfied that the £100,000 fine imposed would, “…send a message to the Directors and Shareholders that they need to comply with environmental legislation.”
Paul Salter, Senior Environmental Crime Officer from the Environment Agency, said; “This prosecution sends out the message that we will not hesitate to prosecute companies which endanger communities and disregard the environment and the law.”
When interviewed under caution, a representative for Exhaust Tyres and Batteries (Worcester) Limited claimed that the company was unaware of its environmental law obligations.
It was reported that in 202, the owner of Synergy Tyres was given 12 months suspended sentence for stockpiling 1,300 tons of tyres at Daventry, according to the Northampton Chronicle and Echo.
Members of the public with concerns about pollution should contact our 24-hour incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60.
