Traders and residents are being warned to make checks before they allow someone else to dispose of their waste. The warning follows a trader being prosecuted after a fly-tip incident was discovered on Skeet Hill last year.
Jack Wisbey of Park Avenue, Orpington, pleaded guilty to unlawfully transferring waste and failing to obtain a waste transfer note. Mr Wisbey was fined and ordered to pay costs totalling almost £800 at Bromley Magistrates Court. Legally, anyone who collects waste as a business activity must be authorised to collect and receive waste. Businesses and householders are being reminded to make the necessary checks or risk prosecution.
“We all need to be a lot wiser and smarter when we dispose of waste, mindful of our own responsibilities and the distinct possibility of our waste being fly-tipped somewhere nearby. Fly-tipping is not victimless and apart from the clear-up costs for the often disgusting mess, the results can also not only be extremely dangerous, but in at least one case locally have already lead indirectly to a fatality.The case highlights the importance of both tradesmen and residents undertaking waste carrier checks before passing on waste to other parties. I would advise anyone responding to someone on their doorstep to be extremely cautious of any offers to remove their waste cheaply.” said Councillor Colin Smith, Executive Councillor for Environment.
The court was told that a fly-tip had been discovered in Skeet Hill Lane, Orpington in March of last year. Along with boxes, tyres, household waste, a door and a toilet, investigators found evidence linked to an address in Orpington where Mr Wisbey had been working.
The court heard that he had recently established a new business and had been unaware of the relevant rules regarding waste disposal and Mr Wisbey admitted to passing on waste to unknown males who had cold called at the property he was working at. He did not check that the cold-callers were licensed nor did he receive the appropriate paperwork upon waste transfer. A waste transfer note (WTN) is a document that details the transfer of waste from one person to another.
The court concluded that Mr Wisbey had acted naively rather than with criminal intent and therefore imposed a lower fine than would normally be expected for an offence of this kind, which could potentially have been up to £5,000.
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