HOUSEHOLD rubbish and dirty mattresses – just some of the items which landed a South Wales company in hot water earlier this month.

Earlier this week, the Argus reported that Gill Waste Recycling Limited was hauled before the courts in Gwent, having been found to have failed in their duty of care surrounding waste disposal.

The Pontypridd based business was fined after Natural Resources Wales discovered a huge mound of fly-tipped waste in the Vale of Glamorgan, near to Llandow Business Park in Cowbridge.

As a result, Natural Resources Wales prosecuted the firm, which is said to have passed on the waste to a third party for disposal, without taking the “duty of care” to ensure that it was disposed of properly.

All told, there was somewhere in the region of 10-20 tonnes of waste dumped, according to court documents, and the firm was served a notice to remove it on November 5, 2020.

Initially, Gill Waste Recycling Limited issued not guilty pleas for five environment offences, before changing their plea to guilty in respect to three charges.

The remaining two were dismissed.

In total, the company was fined £2,100, which consisted of a £700 for each individual offence.

They were also ordered to pay costs of £10,486, a £181 surcharge, and £4,200 in compensation to Natural Resources Wales, to arrange for the removal of the fly-tipped waste.

In total, the balance that requires paying stands at £16,967.

What has been said about the fly-tipping incident?

Following the prosecution, Natural Resources Wales shared pictures taken of the fly-tipped rubbish, before it was correctly disposed of.

A spokesman for Natural Resources Wales told the Argus: “We prosecuted Gill Waste Recycling Limited for failing in their duty of care to ensure its waste, which was fly-tipped near Llandow Business Park in the Vale of Glamorgan, was passed to an appropriate company to dispose of it properly. 

“The company pleaded guilty to the duty of care offences and failure to comply with a Section 59 Notice to remove the waste.

“They were sentenced on 5 January at Cwmbran Magistrates’ Court and fined £2,100, ordered to pay costs of £10,486 and £4,200 compensation to be paid to NRW to arrange the removal of the waste.”