A well-known local businessman, trading under the name of the ‘Recycling Man’ has been caught red handed and dealt with in court after he fly-tipped waste that he was entrusted to dispose of
Mr. Andrew Williams of Bell Street, Trecynon, regularly advertises his business (Recycling Man) on Facebook stating that all waste is disposed of correctly - However, on this occasion, he was found guilty of illegally disposing of the waste that he had charged a person to dispose of correctly.
Mr. Williams had decided to blight his local neighbourhood and fly tipped waste at Parish Road, Rhigos, because he had foolishly agreed to undertake the removal of works for £100 on his own. In court, he admitted that the contents of the shed were larger than he anticipated and took longer to load - he completely miscalculated the nature of the job and was unable to take it to any facility as it was too late in the day.
Mr. Williams’s deliberate actions in this case not only undermine the reputations of legitimate waste disposal companies, but have caused a detrimental effect on the local environment and cost tax payers money to clean up his mess. This thoughtless individual had taken the easy option and simply dumped the items out of sight, out of mind, making it everybody else’s problem!
Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council does not dispute the fact that Mr. Williams is a registered waste carrier with Natural Resources Wales and that he does normally dispose of waste at a registered site. However, on this occasion, he decided to illegally dispose of the waste that he had charged a person to dispose of correctly.
Unfortunately for Mr. Williams, we take a ZERO-Tolerance approach when it comes to litter and fly-tipping. We investigated the incident and were led straight to him. There is NEVER an EXCUSE!
Despite the Council’s Enforcement Officers showing Andrew Williams the overwhelming evidence, he denied fly-tipping the waste but could not explain how the waste was found at the location.
Mr. Williams was asked to provide transfer notes for all the waste he had tipped around the time of the offence which he failed to provide. Due to the overwhelming evidence against him, Mr. Williams was referred to the courts to be dealt with for illegally disposing waste under Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 sets out the offence of fly-tipping: namely the "Prohibition on unauthorised or harmful deposit, treatment or disposal etc. of waste." Anyone failing to adhere to this could face a hefty fine, as this fly-tipper discovered!
Mr. Williams attended court on 7th August and pleaded guilty to fly-tipping and was issued with a 12-month Community Order – 100 hours unpaid work, ordered to pay costs of £1,001.51 and a victim surcharge of £114 – a total of £1,115.51.
A spokesperson for Rhondda Cynon Taf said: "Fly-tipping will not be tolerated, EVER. There is NEVER an excuse to blight our towns, streets and villages with waste, and we will find those responsible and hold them to account.
"As this case highlights, we investigate ALL fly-tipping reports and will uncover all the details as this offender found out.
"Removal of fly-tipping costs hundreds of thousands of pounds each year, which should be spent on key front-line services at a time when budgets are under significant pressures.
"We will use EVERY power available to us to hold those accountable for their actions. Many of the items we recover on our streets, towns and mountains could have been taken to a Community Recycling Centre or collected from the kerbside at no extra cost."
For more information on how to report Fly-Tipping, Recycling and Community Recycling Centres in RCT follow the Council on Facebook/Twitter or visit www.rctcbc.gov.uk
Posted on 28/08/2024