The Environment Agency has prosecuted a recycling company for breaking an environmental permit requiring it to keep all waste within its site boundary.
- Environment Agency investigation ends in successful prosecution
- Court told large amounts of ash spread over five acres of adjoining land without permit
- Sentencing hearing at Nottingham Magistrates on Friday 7 November 2025
At Nottingham Magistrates Court on 7 November 2025, Johnsons Aggregates and Recycling Ltd of Crompton Road, Ilkeston, Derbyshire, were fined £40,000 and ordered to pay costs of £49,886.75.
The company had pleaded guilty at a previous hearing on 19 July 2025.
Ash spread on neighbour's land
The court was told the Environment Agency started monitoring sites in March 2021 at Hallam Fields Industrial Estate, Ilkeston, due to complaints about dust, odour and noise.
Officers attended land adjacent to the defendant company's land, they discovered that a large amount of waste material was on the land. The waste was a type of ash which is commonly used as an aggregate in construction.
Company officials said that the land was owned by someone else and was in the early stages of being developed. They also said that waste on the land had been placed there with the landowner's permission and for the landowner's use.
However, the company later accepted that it had made mistakes in dealing with waste and that it had breached its permit by placing the waste on the land.
Deadline to clean up missed
The Environment Agency issued a compliance assessment report requiring the company to operate within the boundary of the permit.
The officers returned to the site on 11 May 2021 where they observed that large amounts of waste remained on site.
Company officials said the waste had accumulated and had been more difficult to dispose of due to Covid.
The company was told to remove the ash from the land by 3 January 2022.
Officers visited the land on 4 January 2022 and found that the mounds of waste, though reduced in size, were still being stored and covered approximately 5 acres.
A spokesperson for the Environment Agency said:
This case shows that operators in the waste sector should realise we will not tolerate illegal waste activities.
We will take enforcement action to protect the environment, people and legitimate businesses.
Anyone with suspicions of waste crime can call our incident hotline, 0800 807060, or Crimestoppers, on 0800 555111.
Background
Charges:
- Prior to and between 22 March 2021 and 13 June 2022 Johnsons Aggregates and Recycling Ltd, did fail to comply with condition 2.2.1 of Environmental Permit EPR/MP3430AM (the Permit) by failing to ensure the permitted activities did not extend the site. This being the land shown edged in green on the site plan at schedule 7 of the permit. Contrary to Regulations 12 (1) (a) and Regulation 38 (2) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.
