by Keith Hunt

A major recycling company has been fined £75,000 for illegally exporting plastic waste to the United Arab Emirates.
Viridor Waste Management Ltd, which has its main site in Crayford, admitted shipping tonnes of non-hazardous plastic in 25 containers between December 2006 and January 2007.
Passing sentence, a judge said: “We are dealing with the environment. We all live on this planet and we have got to look after it.
“It is incumbent on all of us to protect the environment, not just for ourselves but for the sake of our children.”
The penalty, plus £35,000 court costs, comes two years after Viridor’s predecessor, Grosvenor Waste Management Ltd, was fined £55,000 for illegally exporting rotting household waste abroad.
Judge Philip Statman said it was an aggravating feature that the latest offences came to light shortly after he had sentenced Grosvenor for the previous offence and the company was effectively “on bail” at the time.
Maidstone Crown Court heard the plastic had been exported by commercial manager Robert Doran against the wishes of managing director John Viviani.
Howard McCann, prosecuting for the Environment Agency, said Doran set up a company in Dubai called Grosvenor Resources, which had a tenuous link with Grosvenor Waste Management.
The case involved “green list waste”, categorised under a traffic light system, and there was a complex notification system.
Before such waste could shipped there had to be the written consent of the UK and the destination country. “That did not happen in this case,” said Mr McCann.
Of the 25 containers shipped to the UAE, 23 went on to Malaysia and two to India.
A notice was sent to “repatriate” them back to the UK, but once they arrived in Dubai they became the property of Grosvenor Resources.
Documents suggested the material shipped had been recovered, but there was 40 tonnes not accounted for.
Viridor admitted five charges of illegally shipping plastic waste.