MoreThanWaste.com - Grosvenor’s response to the recent court case (11/04/2007)

A recent case involving Grosvenor Waste Management and the Environment Agency was heard at Maidstone Crown Court in February. The company was later sentenced on 5 April pursuant to the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 1994 for incorrect notification when exporting recyclable goods (see MoreThanWaste article):

Following sentencing, Grosvenor made the following statement:

“In sentencing and considering the developments and performance of the company over the last two years, the Judge stated:

“this company is a leading company in the field of ensuring that the environment is protected.”

The Judge noted that the offences had occurred over a “very short period of time” and that Grosvenor pleaded guilty “at the earliest opportunity.”

Grosvenor, realising the problem, had sought to put things right “earlier rather than later”. The prosecution accepted that there had been improvements by February 2005 less than a month after the problems experienced in January.

The Judge also noted that an Environment Agency inspection in February 2006 confirmed that quality had “vastly improved.”

The company would like to thank its employees, customers, partners and industry colleagues for their fantastic support during the case. Grosvenor would also like to thank householders who have steadfastly continued to recycle.”

The Background to the case

Grosvenor also issued further information on the background to the case:

The company says that the case related to shipments which took place more than two years ago over a very short period during the very busy Christmas period.

The five charges were for “incorrect notification” – a technical error – and one further charge for a technical breach. Thirteen other charges were dropped.

Grosvenor was fined £10,000 each for counts 1-4 and 6, and £5,000 for count five. The company says that the court hearing made it clear that the material concerned consisted of dry recyclables and that all of this material was to be and ultimately was recycled and no environmental harm had occurred.

The company considers that Court documents prove the Indonesian material was 96% paper and 4% other recyclables, and also prove the material was recycled. In court it was made clear that Grosvenor neither collects nor receives or handles any ‘black bag’ household waste.

It was established that the problems that led to the Dutch and Indonesian material considered in court occurred over a very short, three day period. The other material in question was repatriated and re-processed. Grosvenor says that the public can be confident that all their material was, and is, recycled.

Grosvenor’s waste recycling operations

Grosvenor operates the largest Materials Recycling Facility in the UK and Europe, providing a substantial proportion of south east England’s processing capacity.

Over £5.4 million has been invested in new facilities and management processes since 2004, including a new autosort plastic and can facility which was installed last summer at a cost of £1.5 million and more recently an additional 80,000 tonnes per year material recycling line.

Since January 2005 Grosvenor has successfully recycled over 700,000 tonnes of material with the operation being subject to Environment Agency regulatory monitoring amongst others. Grosvenor points out that the material considered in this case represents less than 0.3% of the material successfully processed since then.

The company’s operations involve processing over 400,000 tonnes of recyclable material each year from which raw materials are produced for the manufacturing industry. Two hundred and fifty people are employed by Grosvenor.

The company points out that it has an “exemplar record of regulatory and environmental performance”.

Grosvenor accreditations

Grosvenor is accredited by the Chinese authorities – AQSIQ – for the export of plastics and paper to China. The accreditation requires material to meet high quality standards.
The company is also ISO 14001(2004) EMS Environmental Management System accredited and gained accreditation to the ISO 9001 Quality Management in March 07, international quality standard. Furthermore, Grosvenor says that it is set to become the first company in the waste and recycling sector and only the fifth UK company to gain PAS 99 in recognition of its fully Integrated Management System for quality, environment and health & safety.

Other Grosvenor observations

Grosvenor point out that though earlier reports refer to around 95 containers, the judge had in fact accepted that 83 containers were involved.

In addition the company considers that reference in earlier reports to waste quantities in kilogrammes gives a possible perception of a larger quantity of material than was actually the case, i.e. 1.8 million kg is equivalent to 1,800 tonnes. The tonnage equivalent has been placed in brackets in the third paragraph of the earlier MoreThanWaste article to clarify this issue and to prevent any potential misinterpretation (see MoreThanWaste article).


	Grosvenor’s response to the recent court case (11/04/2007) A recent case involving Grosvenor Waste Management and the Environment Agency was heard at Maidstone Crown Court in February. The company was later sentenced on 5 April pursuant to the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 1994 for incorrect notification when exporting recyclable goods (see MoreThanWaste article): Following sentencing, Grosvenor made the following statement: “In sentencing and considering the developments and performance of the company over the last two years, the Judge stated: “this company is a leading company in the field of ensuring that the environment is protected.” The Judge noted that the offences had occurred over a “very short period of time” and that Grosvenor pleaded guilty “at the earliest opportunity.” Grosvenor, realising the problem, had sought to put things right “earlier rather than later”. The prosecution accepted that there had been improvements by February 2005 less than a month after the problems experienced in January. The Judge also noted that an Environment Agency inspection in February 2006 confirmed that quality had “vastly improved.” The company would like to thank its employees, customers, partners and industry colleagues for their fantastic support during the case. Grosvenor would also like to thank householders who have steadfastly continued to recycle.” The Background to the case Grosvenor also issued further information on the background to the case: The company says that the case related to shipments which took place more than two years ago over a very short period during the very busy Christmas period. The five charges were for “incorrect notification” – a technical error – and one further charge for a technical breach. Thirteen other charges were dropped. Grosvenor was fined £10,000 each for counts 1-4 and 6, and £5,000 for count five. The company says that the court hearing made it clear that the material concerned consisted of dry recyclables and that all of this material was to be and ultimately was recycled and no environmental harm had occurred. The company considers that Court documents prove the Indonesian material was 96% paper and 4% other recyclables, and also prove the material was recycled. In court it was made clear that Grosvenor neither collects nor receives or handles any ‘black bag’ household waste. It was established that the problems that led to the Dutch and Indonesian material considered in court occurred over a very short, three day period. The other material in question was repatriated and re-processed. Grosvenor says that the public can be confident that all their material was, and is, recycled. Grosvenor’s waste recycling operations Grosvenor operates the largest Materials Recycling Facility in the UK and Europe, providing a substantial proportion of south east England’s processing capacity. Over £5.4 million has been invested in new facilities and management processes since 2004, including a new autosort plastic and can facility which was installed last summer at a cost of £1.5 million and more recently an additional 80,000 tonnes per year material recycling line. Since January 2005 Grosvenor has successfully recycled over 700,000 tonnes of material with the operation being subject to Environment Agency regulatory monitoring amongst others. Grosvenor points out that the material considered in this case represents less than 0.3% of the material successfully processed since then. The company’s operations involve processing over 400,000 tonnes of recyclable material each year from which raw materials are produced for the manufacturing industry. Two hundred and fifty people are employed by Grosvenor. The company points out that it has an “exemplar record of regulatory and environmental performance”. Grosvenor accreditations Grosvenor is accredited by the Chinese authorities – AQSIQ – for the export of plastics and paper to China. The accreditation requires material to meet high quality standards. The company is also ISO 14001(2004) EMS Environmental Management System accredited and gained accreditation to the ISO 9001 Quality Management in March 07, international quality standard. Furthermore, Grosvenor says that it is set to become the first company in the waste and recycling sector and only the fifth UK company to gain PAS 99 in recognition of its fully Integrated Management System for quality, environment and health & safety. Other Grosvenor observations Grosvenor point out that though earlier reports refer to around 95 containers, the judge had in fact accepted that 83 containers were involved. In addition the company considers that reference in earlier reports to waste quantities in kilogrammes gives a possible perception of a larger quantity of material than was actually the case, i.e. 1.8 million kg is equivalent to 1,800 tonnes. The tonnage equivalent has been placed in brackets in the third paragraph of the earlier MoreThanWaste article to clarify this issue and to prevent any potential misinterpretation (see MoreThanWaste article).