Roydon Resource Recovery Ltd has been convicted of illegally exporting plastic waste to Poland.
The Manchester-based recycling management company is part of the Roydon Group, which includes Roydon Polyethene, a PE recycler, and Roydon Bottle, a recycled flake producer.
The Manchester Crown Court ruled that the company exported waste intended to be incinerated as fuel, under the pretence of exporting it for recycling.
The prosecution was brought by the UK’s Environment Agency, which collected evidence that ten shipping containers, containing 247 tonnes of waste, contained a majority of plastics ‘unsuitable for recycling’, according to a statement by the agency.
The waste was also heavily contaminated with other household items including electrical items, nappies, and oil cannisters, the agency said.
Photo evidence of the waste found by Environment Agency officers at Roydon Resource Recovery facility seems to show some black plastics alongside these contaminants (see photo above).
Roydon Resource Recovery was sentenced to pay a fine of nearly GBP 870,000 (€1,01M). One of its directors, Wilfred Sumner, was also convicted of illegal export of waste and disregard for proper management protocols. He was ordered to pay a fine of GBP 10,000.
“Roydon Resource Recovery Ltd and Wilfred Sumner showed a disregard for legislation in place to protect our environment and communities,” said Emma Viner, enforcement & investigations manager at the agency. “Illegal waste operations like this, undermine legitimate businesses, undercut their prices, and blight the environment,” she added.
Imports and exports of waste are generally only allowed in the UK for recovery purposes. Plastic waste in particular can only be shipped if: it’s made of a single polymer or from a mix of PE, PP, or PET; it’s almost free from contamination and other types of waste, including other waste plastics; it’s destined for recycling or reclamation of organic substances which are not used as solvent and do not harm the environment.
In 2023, England increased its exports of plastic destined for recycling to 600,000 tonnes, a year-on-year increase of 10%.