Environment Agency | The EA has secured convictions against Cats and Dust Limited, its director Cavin Mears, and former director Stephen Bryce for operating waste sites without the required environmental permits.
At Preston Crown Court, Cats and Dust Ltd was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay £6,000 in costs.
Cavin Mears, 45, from Euxton, Chorley received a 12-month community order requiring 200 hours of unpaid work and was ordered to pay £5,360 in compensation to the Environment Agency, along with £6,000 in costs.
Stephen Bryce,45, from Lancaster was given a 12-month community order requiring 150 hours of unpaid work and was ordered to pay £6,000 in costs.
The court heard that Mears and Bryce were previously directors of RF Recycling Ltd, a company operating a regulated facility without a permit. The facility was at Unit 6, Twin Lakes Industrial Estate, Croston, Lancashire, and operated without an environmental permit between January and June 2020.
Following a visit from the Environment Agency in October 2021, RF Recycling ceased trading. However, Cats and Dust Ltd commenced trading immediately afterwards, operating unlawfully from a separate unit within the same trading estate until January 2022.
Cavin Mears, a former director of RF Recycling Ltd, is the sole director of Cats and Dust Ltd. Stephen Bryce resigned as a director in September 2021, shortly before Cats and Dust Ltd began trading.
