Waste firm warned over its Scots sites

The firm at the centre of a row over backlogs of medical waste was warned about problems at two sites in Scotland.

Healthcare Environmental Services Ltd (HES) is under investigation for stockpiling tonnes of human body parts and medical waste earmarked for incineration.

Breaches were found at five English sites but it has emerged the Lanarkshirebased firm had been served enforcement notices at sites in Dundee and Shotts.

Last month, Sepa flagged up multiple problems at a waste transfer station in Dundee and a processing and incineration plant at Shotts, including failures in waste handling and tracking procedures.

In Dundee, officers found one pallet of waste had been stored on site for more than two months – when it was meant to be processed within 48 hours.

HES said the backlog of medical waste was allowed to build upon its sites due to widespread problems with incineration capacity.

The firm said it had told inspectors that “the amount of waste produced by the NHS for incineration far outweighs the entire incineration capabilities of the UK, and not just HES”.

It added: “We are not the only company to feel the strain on our services, with many of our competitors continually breaching storage regulations.”