The Environment Agency 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. They were also charged with falsifying documents connected to hazardous waste disposal
On Friday 12 September 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.
Sentencing
During sentencing, His Honour Judge Mathieson noted that both men had long experience in the waste industry, including work with hazardous materials. He said they should therefore have been fully aware of their legal responsibilities.
He described their conduct as reckless at the outset, but later deliberate and financially motivated, with falsified paperwork used to conceal their actions. He added that their disregard for regulations demonstrated that they ‘didn’t care about obligations and didn’t care about the impact on people, property or the environment.’
Shannon Nicholson, Environmental Crime Team Leader at the Environment Agency said:
This case shows that those who attempt to profit from waste crime will be held to account.
Handling hazardous materials without the correct permits is a serious offence which can put communities and the environment at risk, while also undercutting legitimate businesses.
By continuing operations despite warnings and by falsifying paperwork, these defendants demonstrated a blatant disregard for the law.
Summary of Charges:
Cats and Dust Limited
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Operated a regulated waste facility without the required environmental permit (Oct 2021 – Jan 2022).
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Submitted multiple falsified Hazardous Waste Consignment Notes, misrepresenting producers or consignees.
Cavin Mears
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As director of RF Recycling Ltd and Cats and Dust Ltd, consented to or neglected multiple offences, including operating waste facilities without permits and falsifying consignment notes.
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Offences spanned Jan 2020 – Jan 2022, involving hundreds of false entries in waste documentation.
Stephen Bryce
- As director of RF Recycling Ltd, responsible for operating an unpermitted waste facility and submitting falsified consignment notes (Jan 2020 – Oct 2021).
