Skip lenders broke waste burning rule

Watson Skip Hire Limited was found guilty by Sheriff Kenneth Maciver, following a trial at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last Friday, of failing to comply with a condition of its waste management licence, which stated that “no waste shall be burned within the boundaries of the site”.

A complaint was initially received by Sepa on December 22, 2010 regarding the burning of waste at the company’s site at Easthouses Industrial Estate, Mayfield, Midlothian.

Sepa officers investigated and found that a volume of mixed waste on an area of open ground within the site was well ablaze.

The burning waste was a mixture of wood, plastic, vegetation and other general domestic waste.

Sheriff Maciver indicated that the fire consisted of waste that should not be burned.