Kentish Express Ashford & District
Mattress mountain boss is ordered to pay extra £15,000
A recycling site boss has again been fined for failing to remove a mountain of mattresses dumped illegally.
Lewis Bertram, 52, who was trading as Eco Matters at Smarden Business Estate, has been ordered to pay a further £15,000, plus £1,400 in costs, after already being punished earlier this year.
The case was part of the Environment Agency’s prosecution against Bertram, which was heard at Canterbury Crown Court in January.
After the crown court trial, Bertram was handed two six-month sentences, suspended for a year, 300 hours of unpaid work and ordered to pay £6,000 costs to the Environment Agency.
This latest hearing at Canterbury Magistrates’ Court was in relation to two further charges, both for non-compliance with two notices to remove waste depos- ited illegally, which could not be heard in January.
He was ordered to pay £7,500 for each charge, plus £1,400 in costs.
When companies store waste as part of their business, some waste, which is normally more hazardous and needs more care when storing, needs an environmental permit.
Bertram, of Well Street, Loose, Maidstone, was allowed to hold and recycle mattresses at the business estate without the permit. However, he still had to meet a number on conditions including the amount of waste being stored and the safety of where it was.
After a number of Environment Agency visits in 2015 and 2016, he was found to not be storing them correctly, which posed a fire risk.
Alan Cansdale, from the Environment Agency, said: “His actions showed disregard for local residents and businesses, and put the environment and local amenity at risk.
“He hasn’t cleared the site, so we are using our enforcement powers that require the landowner to clear the site by November.
“While we will work with businesses to help them operate within the law, in cases where individuals consistently fail to comply we have no hesitation in prosecuting them.”
Anyone with concerns about a waste site they think may be operating illegally can call the Environment Agency hotline on 0800 807060 or anonymously to Crimestoppers 0800 555111.