A businessman, known in his local area as the ‘Recycling Man’, has been found guilty after he was caught fly-tipping waste he was supposed to dispose of properly. Mr. Andrew Williams of Bell Street in Trecynon, pleaded guilty to fly-tipping after appearing in court on Wednesday, August 7.
Mr Williams often promotes his business, Recycling Man, on Facebook, assuring that all waste is disposed of correctly. However, Mr Williams was found guilty of illegally dumping waste he had been paid to get rid of responsibly. Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council said that Mr Williams had decided to “blight” his local neighbourhood and fly-tipped waste at Parish Road in Rhigos.
According to the council, Mr Williams agreed to undertake the removal of works for £100 on his own. In court, he admitted that the contents of the shed were larger than he anticipated and took longer to load. The council found that he “completely miscalculated” the nature of the job and was unable to take it to any facility as it was too late in the day.
Rhondda Cynon Taf Council has acknowledged that Mr. Williams is a registered waste carrier with Natural Resources Wales (NRW) and usually disposes of waste at an authorised site. But on this occasion, the council said that Mr Williams decided to illegally dispose of the waste that he had charged a person to dispose of correctly.
As is the case in many councils across Wales, Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council said it maintains a zero-tolerance stance on littering and fly-tipping. Despite being shown the evidence, Andrew Williams denied the act of fly-tipping but was unable to account for how the waste ended up at the site in question.
Mr. Williams was then requested to produce transfer notes for the waste he had disposed of around the time of the offence, which he did not do. With the substantial evidence against him, he was referred to the courts for illegal waste disposal under Section 33 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
Mr. Williams appeared in court on Wednesday, August 7, where he pleaded guilty to fly-tipping. He was handed a 12-month community order, which included 100 hours of unpaid work, and was ordered to pay costs of £1,001.51 and a victim surcharge of £114, which came to a total of £1,115.51.
A spokesperson for Rhondda Cynon Taf said: “Fly-tipping will not be tolerated, ever. There is never an excuse to blight our towns, streets, and villages with waste, and we will find those responsible and hold them to account.”
The council highlighted the costs incurred in removing fly-tipped waste and emphasized the importance of disposing of waste responsibly. They confirmed their commitment to investigating all reports of fly-tipping to maintain cleanliness and order in the community.