The ruling comes after a court case in June found the waste management giant guilty of planning a banned waste shipment to China
the UK's Environment Agency officers prevented seven 25-tonne containers marked as paper waste from being exported (Credit: Pixabay)
Waste management firm Biffa has been ordered pay nearly £600,000 ($738,000) for the shipment of banned paper waste to China.
On 20 June 2019, the company was found guilty of sending contaminated household waste to China between May and June 2015.
The ruling follows an Environment Agency (EA) investigation, which prevented the export of seven 25-tonne “waste paper” containers packed with food packaging and wood.
Biffa contested the case and has made an application to appeal the June verdict.
The EA’s head of waste Malcolm Lythgo said: “We are pleased with the court’s decision.
“We want all producers and exporters of waste to be responsible and make sure they only export material that can be legally and safely exported for recycling overseas.
“Illegal waste export blights the lives and environment of those overseas.
“We continue to treat illegal waste exports as a priority and will not hesitate to take appropriate enforcement action against those found to break the rules.
“Between 2018 and 2019, we prevented the illegal export of 12,690 tonnes of unsuitable waste and are working with the government on a number of measures to tighten controls including increasing monitoring of international waste shipments and charging higher fees to improve compliance.”
Lack of reprocessing capacity leaves Europe reliant on the export market, says Biffa
During the trial, jurors heard how the firm used two brokers to arrange the export of waste to paper mills in Shenzhen and Guangdong, a coastal province in south-east China.
The first broker took up a request from a Chinese client in April 2015 for 5,863 tonnes of mixed waste paper from Biffa for a price of £350,000 ($430,000).
At the same time, Biffa agreed with a second broker to ship 4,992 tonnes of mixed paper in a contract worth almost £290,000 ($356,000).
The company says the consignments leaving its depot in Edmonton, London four years ago complied with the law because they were made up of waste paper.
A spokesperson from Biffa said: “At that time, China was a core market for UK exported materials for recycled paper and cardboard, and Biffa was a key supplier to some of the largest, best-invested cardboard mills in China.
“These mills were all accredited by the EA as being of an equal or higher environmental standard as mills within the UK and Europe, and all our materials were regularly inspected by customs in China and by a Chinese inspectorate regime based in the UK prior to shipping.
“In addition, all buyers conducted pre-checks before shipping to confirm that the materials were 98.5% pure paper, which was the accepted industry standard.”
Biffa believes the UK and Europe is reliant on the export market for recycled paper and cardboard due to the lack of reprocessing capacity at home.
The company also says its current core markets for mixed recycled paper are the UK and Europe.
The spokesperson concluded: “We hope to see the EA work together with the industry to develop clearer guidance as to what are the acceptable levels of purity for UK exported mixed paper.
“We are encouraged by the support we have received from across the industry for our position on this matter.”