Environment Agency | A Cornwall man who repeatedly ignored warnings about the amount of waste that he illegally stockpiled at his business has been prosecuted by the EA.
Treve Young, 52, operated the illegal site from Lower Spargo Farm, Mabe Burnthouse, to the west of Falmouth in Cornwall. He appeared before Plymouth Magistrates’ Court.
Young pleaded guilty in October 2025 to two offences, one of operating a regulated facility without an environmental permit, in breach of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, and one for failing to provide when demanded copies of all written descriptions of waste, in breach of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
He was sentenced to 22 weeks imprisonment suspended for 18 months and ordered to complete 100 hours unpaid work during that period. He was also ordered to pay a £30,000 fine, prosecution costs of £5739.82, and a victim surcharge of £181.
The Court heard waste was imported to the site without an Environmental Permit and outside the scope of any waste exemption conditions.
The importation of waste continued after advice and guidance had been provided regarding the limitations of a U1 waste exemption, it also exceeded the boundaries of planning permission in place.
A U1 exemption allows a maximum of 1,000 tonnes of soil and stones, and up to 5,000 tonnes of inert material (including bricks, concrete, tiles, and ceramics) for the purpose of construction.
Young admitted in an interview under caution that he deliberately concealed documents from Environment Agency officers to try to cover up the true volume of waste which had been imported and that he had been operating as an unlicensed waste carrier.
The importation of waste to this area by Young from 20 April 2015 and 11 March 2024 was over 27,000 tonnes.
