Waste company prosecuted for operating without an environmental permit

Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has successfully prosecuted a waste company and its director after it operated unlawfully for more than a year and a legal notice to clear the site was ignored.

At Mold Magistrates’ Court on 16 December, Endurmeta Ltd and its director, Ian Glasbrook, pleaded guilty to operating a waste site without an environmental permit and failing to comply with a statutory notice requiring waste to be removed.

Mr Glasbrook was fined £3,077, ordered to pay £7,687 in prosecution costs and a victim surcharge, and disqualified from acting as a company director for three years from 29 April 2026. The court also imposed a remediation order requiring both Mr Glasbrook and Endurmeta Ltd to remove all remaining waste from the site by that date.

Endurmeta Ltd was separately fined £3,350 and ordered to pay a victim surcharge.

The prosecution relates to a waste treatment site operated by Endurmeta Ltd at Deva Industrial Estate in Sandycroft between August 2023 and February 2025.

The company was handling waste materials including carpets, mattresses and printer cartridges under waste exemptions, which allow certain low-risk waste activities to take place without a full environmental permit.

However, NRW officers found that the site was not secure and that waste was being stored for longer than permitted under the exemption rules.

These breaches meant the operation no longer qualified for exemptions, leading NRW to cancel them and issue a legal notice under Section 59 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

The notice required the company to remove the waste from the site, but NRW found that Endurmeta Ltd failed to comply. At the time of the court hearing, most of the waste remained in place.

Compliance

Carys Williams, Waste Regulation and Enforcement Team Leader at NRW, said the case highlighted the importance of compliance with environmental regulations.

“Waste exemptions are designed to allow low-risk activities to operate without a permit, but only when all conditions are fully met,” she said. “Failure to comply can put the environment and human health at risk, as well as undermining legitimate businesses that invest in operating responsibly.”

She added that NRW would continue to monitor the site to ensure the court-ordered clean-up is completed.

“Our officers will ensure that the remaining waste is removed in line with the remediation order,” she said. “We will not hesitate to take enforcement action where operators ignore their legal responsibilities.”