Poultry firm fined for incorrect fluo tube disposal

A poultry company has been fined almost £5000 for incorrectly disposing of spent fluorescent light tubes at one of its chicken processing plants in Wiltshire.

The Faccenda Group admitted breaches of the Environmental Protection Act at Lyneham Farm, Uppertown, near Chippenham, during a hearing (18 November) before Chippenham magistrates.

The court heard that in April 2008 a routine visit to the poultry unit by Environment Agency inspectors found that hazardous waste was being bought from other sites and incorrectly stored.

A further inspection in October showed that the waste, including fluorescent light tubes, was still being stored, mixed with other waste and then taken to a waste transfer site.

Paula Sage, prosecuting for the Environment Agency, told the court: “The defendant company consistently failed to comply with the advice given to it by the Environment Agency and tried to dispose of hazardous waste despite being warned on previous occasions about the illegal mixing, storing and transportation of hazardous wastes.”

Faccenda was fined £2500 with £2458 costs.