Kentish Express Ashford & District
Recycler accused of storing too many mattresses on site
Recycler Lewis Bertram has gone on trial accused of storing too many mattresses at his units at Smarden Business Park.
The 51-year-old – who runs Eco_Matt.e.r.s – has denied three charges including breaching his licences between December 11 2014 and June 10 the following year.
Environment Agency investigators were called in after complaints from residents, a jury at Canterbury Crown Court has heard.
Prosecutor Rebecca Vanstone said Bertram, of Well Street, Loose near Maidstone had “knowingly permitted” waste to be deposited near the units.
She said: “The Environment Agency doesn’t say that Mr Bertram himself deposited the waste but that he allowed it to be deposited with his knowledge and permission.
“The waste included mattresses, bed frames and metal.”
The businessman also denies failing to provide details under Environment regulations as required by law.
The jury heard how Bertram ran his business recycling company and rented two units in the summer of 2013.
“Mattresses would be brought onto the site and stripped of their component parts which would then be sold off.”
He had applied to the EA for “exceptions” which are licences to allow him to treat waste.
Ms Vanstone said Bertram had been given a “T4 Exemption” which allowed him to store 1,000 tons of textile waste at one unit and a “T12 Exemption” for five tons of waste which had to be treated inside.
He was also allowed to dismantle 20 tons of divans at any one time, the court heard.
She added: “Three EA officers attended the site on a number of occasions from December 2014 until June 2015 after becoming concerned about the amount of waste stored there.
“They took photographs of the mattresses and they were con- cerned he was operating outside the terms of his exemptions.
“They served notices on him to remove the waste. That failed to have an effect and later they interviewed him.
“He told them he was the decision-maker for the business and accepted that the site had deteriorated and that he had filled it to over-capacity.”
The prosecutor said calculations made by an officer estimated 1116 tons of waste on one unit and 1184 tons on a second unit.
“We say he was operating outside the terms of his exemptions in that he was storing mattresses, wood and metal outside one unit and in another for which he had no exemption, “she added.
The trial continues.