UK Skip Company Fined For Illegal Asbestos Storage -- MesoLink.org -- 02-14-06

A UK skip company, AYS Skip Hire, has been fined 1,500 GBP after it was discovered that asbestos was being illegally stored on a trading estate. Environmental officials received a tip-off regarding the situation, and went out to pay a visit to the company, located on an industrial estate.

Fully loaded skips were seen being transported to the site, and upon further investigation officials found a number of skips overloaded with various types of waste. Tests later confirmed that one of the skips contained bonded asbestos. A follow-up visit to the site once again revealed fully loaded skips and waste storage.

As part of the judgement, one of the directors of the company was fined for giving permission for waste such as asbestos to be stored without the necessary licensing. The company was fined a further eleven hundred GBP in fines and court costs, bringing the total amount to 1,500 GBP.

An Environmental Agency official stated: "This is the fourth skip company we have prosecuted in the South West this year, which is a statistic of great concern. The company was fully aware of the law but chose to break it for financial gain. This sort of offence is prevalent within the skip industry and licensed operators are rightly angry at unlicensed sites that flout the regulations. Consumers have a responsibility to check where waste is going before hiring a skip company."