A COMPANY has been fined more than £55,000 for breaching environmental permit conditions at the Bryn Posteg Landfill Site, near Llanidloes.

Sundorne Products (Llanidloes) Limited has an environmental permit from Natural Resources Wales (NRW) that allows them to receive up to 75,000 tonnes of non-hazardous household and commercial waste every year.

This permit has various conditions that the operator must comply with to ensure appropriate infrastructure is in place to protect both the environment and human health.

It is an offence to operate outside the conditions of the permit.

Sundorne breached various conditions between January 2016 and April 2017, including several incidents of failing to control leachate levels, failing to prevent or minimise emissions of landfill gas and failing to prevent or minimise odour.

In July, Sundorne pleaded guilty to the following charges:

- Between January 11, 2016 and April 27, 2017 at the Bryn Posteg Landfill Site, Tylwch Road, Llanidloes, breached permit condition 2.9.1 by exceeding the permitted leachate head limits contrary to Regulation 38(2) and Regulation 39(1) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.

- Between January 11, 2016 and March 27, 2017 at the Bryn Posteg Landfill Site, Tylwch Road, Llanidloes, breached permit condition 3.3.1 by not using appropriate measures to prevent or where not practical to minimise emissions of landfill gas, contrary to Regulation 38(2) and Regulation 39(1) of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.

For the first charge, the company was fined £20,000 and for the second charge was fined £15,000.

In addition, Sundorne was ordered to pay £20,000 costs and a victim’s surcharge of £120, at Merthyr Tydfil Magistrates Court.

Speaking afterwards, Julia Frost, Industry and Waste Regulation Team Leader for Natural Resources Wales said: “Every landfill site needs an environmental permit from us to operate, which details how the operator will manage the site to minimise the impact on air, land and water in the area.

“We have tried to work with the operators and have given the company every opportunity to comply with the conditions in their permit, but they did not do this.

“NRW takes any activity which impacts on the environment extremely seriously and we hope this case reminds all operators of the serious implications of failing to adhere to the conditions of their permit.”