Firm pays £290k over hazardous waste breach

A company has paid £290,000 after it breached its environmental permit by wrongly classifying hazardous waste as non-hazardous during its disposal at landfill.

Sembcorp Utilities (UK) Ltd, which operates a biomass power station at Wilton on Teesside, was found to have been in breach from at least 2015 to 2019, the Environment Agency (EA) said.

The firm donated the money to the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust to help restore woodland near the site.

The company has also introduced new operating procedures to ensure waste is disposed of correctly, the EA added.

Sembcorp submitted an "enforcement undertaking", which is voluntary offer to make amends for their offending, the agency said.

The Lazenby Bank woodland project it donated to includes restoration work to 215 acres of woodland near Wilton International industrial complex.

In 2019, the EA audited the company's disposal of its incinerator bottom ash (IBA), which is a product of the incineration process.

Despite the company saying it was non-hazardous, it was found to contain concentrations of lead, copper, zinc and nickel which should be classified as hazardous, the EA said.

Data supplied from 2015 showed the misclassification had been taking place since at least that date.

The EA added that it agreed with a report from a company instructed by Sembcorp which concluded there was no significant risk to human health or the environment as a result of the breach.

Sembcorp Utilities (UK) Ltd has been contacted for comment.

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