Western Sydney glass recycler fined $15,000 over storage breaches
The NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) has fined a western Sydney glass recycling company $15,000 for alleged breaches of waste storage conditions.
Glass Recycling (NSW) Pty Ltd holds an Environment Protection Licence to operate a resource recovery facility at Swaffham Road, Minto.
The EPA required the company to cease storing glass outside their processing building, which was a breach of their licence.
Following a series of reminders, an EPA inspector visited the site on 2 December 2020 and found glass was still being stored outside the building, despite the deadline for its removal having passed. The site has a prior history of non-compliance.
EPA Director Regulatory Operations Cate Woods said the EPA takes all breaches of the Protection of the Environment Operations Act seriously.
“The glass can break and enter the environment as wind blown particles or be washed into the storm water system.
“The EPA wants to ensure there is a level playing field for all resource recovery operators and that includes complying with the terms of their Environment Protection Licence and the law.
“This is a timely reminder for all licence holders that they must comply with all conditions of their licence”, Ms Woods said. Penalty notices are one of a number of tools the EPA can use to achieve environmental compliance including formal warnings, official cautions, licence conditions, notices and directions and prosecutions. In this instance the EPA issued a penalty notice. The notice recipient may pay the penalty notice, seek a review, or elect to have the matter determined by a court.
