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Kent County Council v Queensborough Rolling Mills Ltd.
Control of Pollution Act 1974, ss.3 and 5
Controlled waste and "useful purpose" The grading of material which
was controlled waste did not take it out of the ambit of controlled
waste simply because it was put to a useful purpose.
Facts
Kent County Council appealed against the decision of the
magistrates' court to acquit the respondents of charges under ss.3
and 5 of COPA. The material in question had been deposited by
contractors for the respondents. The question was, in light of the
material being deposited for a useful purpose, whether it remained
"controlled waste" for the purposes of the 1974 Act and s.30
thereof. The material had been removed from the site of a former
porcelain factory and graded into four categories. The contractors
had offered to supply the respondents with one particular grade as
ballast for infill.
The Decision Allowing
the appeal, the court concluded that the purpose to which the
material was put was not conclusive, but had to be considered at the
time of removal when it was something which had been discarded.
When the material was
removed it was within the ambit of "controlled waste" contained in
s.30 of COPA. The use to which it was subsequently put did not
change its character. The fact that it had been graded did not mean
it was not waste. If the waste had been reconstituted or recycled
there would have been different considerations.
Note
The material, although very suitable for the repair of the
defendant's jetty, the foundations of which had been scoured by the
seas, had been discarded many years ago from a factory site as waste
and was therefore industrial and thus controlled waste.
Under the Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994 (SI 1994 No.
1056) and according to DoE Circular 11/94, it is likely that these
substances or objects, although used for construction purposes, had
previously fallen out of the commercial cycle or out of the chain of
utility and would, therefore, also be viewed by the courts as waste.
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