A Killarney waste company has been fined half a million euro by a Circuit Court judge over breaches of its waste collection licence.
Killarney Waste Disposal Unlimited Company pleaded guilty to two breaches of its waste collection licence in 2013 and 2014.
The company admitted it collected over twice as much waste as was permitted under its licence, although Judge Sinead Behan noted the breaches caused no apparent environmental damage.
At the time of the offending, KWD had an annual waste collection limit of 40,000 tonnes per year KWD.
The company admitted to collecting over 83,000 tonnes in 2013, and over 93,000 in 2014, over double the annual limit allowed by its licence.
The company had applied for permission to increase this limit to 59,000 tonnes per year in 2010, but this permission was not granted until 2019.
The company pleaded guilty to the two counts on a full-facts basis, meaning Judge Behan also took note of the fact KWD collected over 102,000 tonnes of waste in 2015 and over 76,000 tonnes in 2016.
The company submitted that it was collecting waste that would otherwise have been left on the kerbside, but Judge Behan noted KWD still generated profit from doing so.
The company also left considerable amounts of waste out in the open when it should have been stored inside a building, creating an environmental risk.
Noting the aggravating factors, Judge Behan said these breaches were deliberate, persistent and prolonged over four years, and while the company had applied to increase its limit to 59,000 tonnes yearly, it still collected well in excess of this between 2013 and 2016.
However, Judge Behan said the company had been operating for more than 20 years and had no previous convictions, and it’s a profitable enterprise providing employment to more than 400 people locally.
KWD submitted that it made a net profit of over €768,000 over 2013 and 2014, but Judge Behan said she did not know what deductions this factored in.
Another mitigating factor was that no environmental damage was caused by the breaches.
Judge Behan handed out a fine of €250,000 per count, €500,000 in total, with over €3,000 in costs to the EPA, and 12 months to pay.
A spokesperson for Killarney Waste Disposal says these are historical issues that had no environmental impact and which occurred over a decade ago.
The spokesperson says the company is now fully compliant on these issues and looks forward to providing a comprehensive service to its clients in the decades ahead.
