CaRT's £2.5m 'waste crime' bill

CANAL & River Trust (CaRT) are facing a massive £2.5m bill following ‘waste crime' at Knostrop, Leeds, writes Allan Richards.

With tenants, Leeds Paper Recycling Limited in receivership, CaRT now have to remove and dispose of some 17,000 bales of waste from its premises.

No environmental permits

Three directors of Leeds Paper Recycling Limited (now Whitecase Limited), have each been charged with six offences related to waste storage at two sites without the required environmental permits.

The charges follow complaints from residents and businesses that about 4,000 bales of household waste at Goole Docks were giving problems due to odour and flies. An Environment Agency investigation found that two CaRT owned buildings at Knostrop depot, Leeds contained a further 17,000 bales which had similar problems.

Left Cart with the problem

However, Leeds Paper Recycling Limited changed its name to Whitecase Limited and then went into Liquidation leaving CaRT with the problem of disposing of the waste which can not be recycled.

Told trustees

CaRT's trustees and Defra were informed in July with CaRT's expected clean-up cost being given as £2.5m.

To put the bill into context it represents about 10% of CaRT's annual net income from property and is higher than the £2m contingency fund that is held for such eventualities.