A man who employed people to remove waste that was later found illegally dumped has been convicted, further demonstrating North Yorkshire’s continued effort to tackle fly-tipping.
At York Magistrates Court on Friday (29 September 2023), Jimmy Nicholson, 32, of Lyneburn Cottage caravan site in Northumberland, was prosecuted for failing in his duty of care for waste under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
He pleaded guilty to the charges with regards to waste his business created at a property outside of North Yorkshire.
The defendant was required to pay a fine of £461, a victim surcharge of £184 and a contribution to North Yorkshire Council’s costs of £850.
Nicholson was convicted after failing to check if the people he transferred the waste to had an upper tier waste carrier’s licence, or a scrap metal collectors’ licence, and he did not obtain a waste transfer document to show what waste had been taken and by whom, contrary to Section 34(1)(c) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
The council’s environmental protection team launched an investigation into Nicholson in January this year after they were notified by a traffic sergeant from North Yorkshire Police of a large amount of waste fly-tipped on Ox Moor Lane in Cattal.
The tip comprised of broken and dismantled furniture, black leather sofas, plasterboard, dining chairs and other household waste. Within the waste was documentation in the name of Nicholson and a name and address of where the waste had come from.
On the same day, the council’s street cleansing team attended a fly-tip on Springs Lane, Hutton Wandesley, which included plasterboard, broken wood, and within that tip was documentation with the same address as that found within the Ox Moor Lane tip.
It was discovered that Nicholson had been employed to clear the property of waste and carry out renovation work. He had used skips for some of the waste but had stored a large amount on the driveway of the property.
An unknown scrapman had approached Nicholson and offered to remove it for £170.
North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for managing our environment, Cllr Greg White, said:
This prosecution is another example of how our environmental protection and street cleansing teams are taking a strong stance against fly-tipping.
They work tirelessly to prosecute those who dump waste illegally, which is not only a blight on our beautiful countryside but poses a potential health risk to the public.
This case should be a lesson to all businesses that they must ensure whoever they give their waste to is authorised to accept it, be that an authorised site or a waste carrier who should have an upper tier waste carriers licence issued by the Environment Agency.
They must also obtain documentation detailing what waste has been transferred, to whom and when, and this documentation known as a waste transfer note must be kept for two years.
If these checks are not carried out, they are risking the waste being fly-tipped and them being prosecuted.
Anybody who witnesses fly-tipped waste or is offered waste or scrap collection services from unlicensed individuals is encouraged to report the case on North Yorkshire Council’s website at www.northyorks.gov.uk/environment-and-neighbourhoods/fly-tipping
