Toxic Waste Mountains Blighting Communities

Sky News research has revealed that environment agencies in the UK are dealing with dozens of abandoned waste mountains left by recycling firms who have gone out of business.

More than 60 rotting waste piles are blighting communities in areas including Wiltshire, Kent, the West Midlands, Yorkshire and Fife.

The Environment Agency said, in 2014-2015 it was dealing with 50 abandoned sites in England, 10 of which contain more than 5,000 tonnes.

The Scottish Environment Protection Agency said it was handling the clearance of another 14 sites of varying sizes.

All follow the same pattern of recycling firms starting-up business on private land then going into liquidation and leaving the waste mounds for landowners or the authorities to clean up at a cost millions of pounds.

Some sites contain tens of thousands of tonnes of material built up over years and pose a health risk to neighbours living in their shadow.

In Great Heck, Yorkshire, a recycling company went bust last summer after building up a 15ft pile of waste that residents say has affected their quality of life and caused health problems.

The site is now being cleared with the landowner paying around £1m for removal. Resident Cathy Morgan said the smell is worse in the summer.

“It’s just a toxic smell,” she said. “It would seep into the house, through the window. Other residents that live closer say you can smell it after a couple of bad days inside your fridge.”

Shane Brennan of The Country Land And Business Association, whose members have reported being left with piles of waste said: “I think we need a new and more rigorous approach to licensing. If there are companies setting up and depositing waste on land, and they start to go awry, they need to be closed down immediately.

"We need to stop them getting to the point like we’ve seen with large sites and we need measures in place to make sure we can clean up the mess after the cowboys have ridden off into the night.”

The Environment Agency defended its work saying that 95% of waste sites permitted are well run and provide a much needed waste management service for the local area.

Executive Director of Operations Dr Toby Willison said: “If you’ve got one of these sites next to your community then it is an absolute blight and no one would want that.

"In those circumstances we take our responsibilities very seriously. We have significant enforcement powers, stop notices and we can suspend permits.

"We take up many prosecutions against companies and you will have seen the course being extremely forceful in the penalties they apply.”