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Cambuslang waste carrier given £1,000 penalty for falsifying authorisation

Calum Morton of Cambuslang was served the Fixed Monetary Penalty (FMP) by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) after the regulator found they had falsely claimed to be a registered waste carrier and provided false information about a waste deposit. 

Waste transfer notices ensure that there is a clear audit trail from when waste is produced until disposal - providing an accurate record that enables regulators to track waste movements and check waste has been handled legally. 

A waste transfer notice should provide essential information on the type and quantity of waste, where it originated from, and where it will be disposed of or treated. Any person who produces, keeps or manages controlled waste or has control of it as a broker or dealer, or carriers must complete accurate waste transfer notes and make them available on request. 

George Hope, Unit Manager of SEPA’s Enforcement Support Team, said:  

“Providing false information on any waste licence is unacceptable and often done to avoid the charges for taking wastes to permitted waste sites for recovery or disposal. 

“Regulating the movement of waste is essential to ensure that it is taken to an appropriate disposal or treatment site and to prevent waste crime. Waste transfer notes are vital to tracking who has handled waste at every stage of the journey and how it has ultimately been disposed of, which is why they must be filled in accurately. 

“This penalty should be a reminder to any business or individual working in the waste management industry that it is your responsibility to ensure you are compliant with your duty of care. That includes ensuring your staff understand what is required when completing required documentation.” 

Details of the offences

In May 2023, South Lanarkshire Council provided SEPA with a waste transfer notice identifying Mr Morton as a registered waste carrier and detailing the collection and transport of waste from The Tudor Inn, Cambuslang, to the NWH Group waste management facility, Glasgow. 

Witness statements collected from the Council and NWH Group certified that Mr Morton had not deposited nor paid for the deposit of waste at the location, while checks of SEPA’s own records indicated that Mr Morton was not registered as a waste carrier on the date stated on the waste transfer notice. 

Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, it is an offence for any person to make a statement which he knows to be false or misleading with respect to licences and an FMP was deemed appropriate enforcement action in this case.

Civil penalties

SEPA can issue FMPs for relevant offences - they are not available for all offences. FMPs are normally appropriate where an offence has not caused environmental harm or has caused minimal environmental harm with no lasting environmental effects or impacts on communities, for administrative offences and where little (if any) financial benefit arises from the offence.  

They sit alongside other enforcement tools available to SEPA staff, including advice and guidance, final warning letters, statutory enforcement notices, other civil penalties, including Variable Monetary Penalties (VMPs) and reports to the Procurator Fiscal.   

SEPA’s enforcement action is designed to secure compliance with regulatory requirements, protecting and improving the environment. It aims to bring activity under regulatory control, stop offending, stop harm or reduce the risk of harm arising from non-compliance. It is also designed to ensure restoration or remediation of harm caused by regulatory non-compliance where appropriate.   

Notes to Editors

Find advice on waste transfer notes and how to complete them on the NetRegs website. 

SEPA are satisfied on the balance of probabilities that Calum Morton of Glenburn Avenue, Cambuslang, produced and supplied a waste transfer note with false information at The Tudor Inn on 21 April 2023 and therefore committed a relevant offence prescribed under the Order, namely an offence under Section 44(1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (“the Act”). 

In terms of Section 44(1) of the Act, it is an offence for any person to make a statement which he knows to be false or misleading in a material particular, or recklessly makes any statement which is false or misleading. 

The level of FMPs is set out in The Environmental Regulation (Enforcement Measures) (Scotland) Order 2015 which provides SEPA with the power to issue penalties and accept undertakings for relevant environmental offences. 

SEPA’s Enforcement policy and Guidance on the use of enforcement action underpins decision-making in relation to enforcement action. 

The Lord Advocate’s guidelines to SEPA also supports enforcement decision making. Where SEPA is considering issuing monetary penalties or accepting a voluntary undertaking, the Guidelines provide a framework for deciding whether SEPA may take such action, or whether the case should instead be referred to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service for consideration of prosecution. 

Whilst penalties are initially paid to SEPA (which also undertakes debt recovery on unpaid penalties), article 12 of the Environmental Regulation (Enforcement Measures) (Scotland) Order 2015 provides that where SEPA receives such sums, they must be paid to the Scottish Ministers. It is understood that Scottish Ministers put such sums to the Scottish Consolidated Fund.