‘Waste should have been recycled and not buried' (From The Northern Echo)

‘Waste should have been recycled and not buried'

10:30am Wednesday 9th January 2008 in News By Mark Tallentire

MORE than 400 tonnes of waste which should have been recycled was buried in landfill, an investigation has revealed.

Waste management company Premier Waste Management, which is part-owned by Durham County Council, immediately called in the police when it discovered the error, at its recycling plant in Coxhoe, County Durham.

Premier found 70 tonnes of recycled material known as Compost Like Output (CLO), which should be used as compost on brownfield sites, had been buried - short-changing the Government of £1,600 in landfill tax.

A further 370 tonnes was used to cover its landfill site.

Its three-month investigation was launched in October following complaints made by a contractor.

A final report was completed at the end of last month and copies have been sent to the Environment Agency and HM Revenue and Customs.

Last night, Mark Stoph, Premier's director of regulatory affairs, said the company was implementing a number of recommendations aimed at tightening up its environmental procedures.

Mr Stoph said he does not expect the incident to affect Durham County Council's ability to meet its recycling targets.

Mr Stoph said: "In addition, internal disciplinary action is now being implemented with all personnel involved in this incident and re-training will be conducted where applicable.

"We will be re-enforcing our internal procedures and ensuring all personnel are fully aware of their responsibilities.

"As a company, Premier Waste Management has an excellent environment management record and we take our responsibilities in this area extremely seriously.

"We very much regret the fact that this incident took place and will continue to work with our partners and do everything we can to ensure it does not happen again."

Premier informed Durham County Council, the Environment Agency, HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and Durham Police immediately upon the allegations being made and of the outcome of its investigation.

A spokesman for Durham Police said there were no plans to begin a criminal investigation.

A spokesman for Durham County Council said the council was aware of the matter and had referred it to the relevant authorities.

HMRC and the Environment Agency declined to comment.

Independent county councillor John Shuttleworth called on Durham County Council to begin a full investigation of the matter.

Premier's internal investigation was launched following allegations made by staff of Delta Recycling, which had been involved in a series of commercial disputes with Premier.