Two waste firms have been fined £35,000 after illegally disposing of waste food in way that could have caused an outbreak of foot and mouth.
A series of errors by both FD Todd & Sons and Coast to Coast Recycling led to 10 tonnes of food waste containing meat being dumped in a field where sheep and cattle grazed, potentially risking an epidemic of the infectious and sometimes fatal viral disease that affects cloven-hoofed animals.
Harrogate Magistrates’ Court heard how in March this year FD Todd & Sons collected food waste from ready-meal manufacturer Pro-Pak Foods and transported it to farms operated by Coast to Coast Recycling for disposal.
Coast to Coast Recycling told the court it had believed the waste contained only vegetables and was to be fed to animals, but in fact it included rice, pasta, noodles, pepperoni and luncheon meat. Pro-Pak Foods, which was also fined for waste offences at the hearing, confirmed that 10%-15% of the waste it produced was meat, but argued that it had thought the food was being taken to landfill by FD Todd & Sons as part of a two-year contract.
FD Todd & Sons responded by claiming that the ready-meal maker had changed the contents of the waste without telling the company.
The Environment Agency, which brought the prosecution, said the firms had failed to properly use waste transfer notes, with Pro-Pak foods not completing them at all and FD Todd & Sons failing to describe the waste accurately. Problems were compounded by assumptions made by the different companies and failures to check what the waste contained.
In fining the companies, the magistrates said something had gone wrong at every stage and that each was responsible for understanding and complying with legislation.
“We were shocked to find this type of activity happening in an area still suffering from the effects of foot and mouth 10 years ago,” said Mike Riby, team leader at the Environment Agency. “This could have caused another outbreak or spread any number of diseases.”
FD Todd & Sons was fined £20,000 for disposing of controlled waste illegally and for failing to complete waste transfer notes accurately under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Environmental Protection Regulations 1991.
Coast to Coast Recycling was ordered to pay £15,000 after pleading guilty to operating a facility outside the bounds of its environmental permit, and Pro-Pak Foods was fined £3,200 for failing to ensure a waste transfer note was completed.
