Bermondsey man made to do 250 hours of community service
Abdul Monir found guilty of running an illegal waste transfer station and depositing waste on Network Rail land. Monir also ordered to pay £2,000 compensation.
Abdul Monir, of Southwark Park Road, Bermondsey, has been sentenced to a community order of 250 hours unpaid work over an 18-month period and ordered to pay £2,000 in compensation to Network Rail by Bromley magistrates’ court.
Monir was found guilty on 11 September 2023 for running an illegal waste transfer station and depositing waste on land belonging to Network Rail.
On 29 October 2020, Network Road reported that a large amount of waste was illegally deposited at Sittingbourne station. CCTV from Southeastern Trains showed that the waste was deposited on 22 October 2020 by a Volvo lorry.
In November 2020, Network Rail contacted the Environment Agency with CCTV footage of their land at Milton Court Road in London of the same Volvo lorry entering the site full of waste and shortly exiting without any waste. Network Rail confirmed that the vehicle did not have permission to enter the site.
On 17 December 2020, Environment Agency officers visited Green Lane Recycling Ltd’s site at Manor Way Business Park, Swanscombe, whose sole director was Monir, 51, of Southwark Park Estate, Bermondsey. During this visit, the officers found that the site was being used as an illegal waste transfer station under the control of Green Lane Recycling Ltd. No permits or exemptions were in force that would allow the waste activities on site.
In January 2021, a PNC check revealed the vehicle used at Milton Court Road was in a traffic accident in December 2020, where the driver fled the scene. The vehicle was recovered by Kent Police. An Environment Agency officer inspected the vehicle, finding a hi-viz jacket with Green Lane Recycling Ltd’s logo and markings to the roof of the cab that linked it to the waste deposited at Sittingbourne station.
Data from the Motor Insurance Bureau confirmed that the Volvo lorry was insured to Green Lane Recycling Ltd.
Matt Higginson, environment manager for the Environment Agency in south London and Kent, said:
This was a deliberate breach of the law. This prosecution sends out a strong signal to others that we will continue to fight tirelessly to combat illegal waste crime and bring those responsible to justice.
Businesses and householders also need to do everything possible to ensure that waste doesn’t end up in the hands of operators who break the law. We encourage anyone seeking waste disposal services to check for registered carriers online at Waste Carriers, Brokers and Dealers
Environmental incidents can be reported to the Environment Agency 24/7 on 0800 807060. Waste crime can also be reported anonymously via Crimestoppers online or on 0800 555111.
Background:
Abdul Monir was charged with:
On 13 October 2020, Abdul Monir being the person who on that day controlled or was in a position to control the use of a white Volvo lorry, vehicle registration number YJ55 VVP, did knowingly cause the deposit of controlled waste on land belonging to Network Rail at Milton Court Road, London that did not have an environmental permit in force authorising such a deposit, contrary to section 33(1)(a) and (5) and by virtue of (6) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
On 22 October 2020, Abdul Monir being the person who on that day controlled or was in a position to control the use of a white Volvo lorry, vehicle registration number YJ55 VVP, did knowingly cause the deposit of controlled waste on land belonging to Network Rail at Sittingbourne station, St Michael’s Road, that did not have an environmental permit in force authorising such a deposit, contrary to section 33(1)(a) and (5) and by virtue of (6) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
On or before 17 October 2020, at unit B3, Manor Way Business Park, Swanscombe, Kent, Green Lane Recycling Ltd operated a regulated facility, namely a waste transfer station, when there was not in force an environmental permit and the offence was committed with the consent or connivance of Abdul Monir the sole director of the company, contrary to regulations 12(1), 38(1)(a) and 41(1)(a) of the Environmental Permitting (England & Wales) Regulations 2010
Abdul Monir, of Southwark Park Estate, 363 Southwark Park Road, Bermondsey. Date of birth: 7 December 1972.
Contact us - journalists only:
0800 141 2743 or communications_se@environment-agency.gov.uk