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A recycling company which suffered a major blaze at its site in Ystrad Mynach in 2021 has been fined £64,000 by Newport Crown Court for environmental breaches.

Waste water and chemical foam used to fight the fire at SL Recycling, as well as oil and fuel, polluted the Nant Cylla brook and the River Rhymney over a 2.3km stretch – killing 175 fish.

The fire, which happened on September 1, 2021 at the firm’s scrapyard on Penallta Industrial Estate, was caused when a lithium-ion battery exploded when a vehicle shell was crushed.

It then spread to the primary stock pile of scrap metal stored centrally in the yard, leading to around 150 tonnes of recyclable material including, plastic, foam, electrical items, lead batteries, and gas cylinders to catch fire, alongside machinery.

It took until the afternoon of the following day for South Wales Fire and Rescue Service (SWFRS) to bring it under control.

The court heard that the stockpile of waste on the site exceeded the maximum storage height of four metres – as set out in a fire prevention plan and breaching the conditions of the company’s environmental permit.

Concerns over the height had been highlighted by officers from environmental regulator Natural Resources Wales during a site visit in February that year and the firm was told it needed to be reduced.

The height of the waste made it difficult for firefighters to put the blaze out and segregate the hotspots within it.

The fire prevention plan also required SL Recycling to have a designated “quarantine area” for waste material to be moved to ensure it was extinguished in the event of the fire.

This area had to hold at least 50% of the main stockpile, but this was not the case.

Because of these failings, NRW argued in its prosecution, a large amount of water and foam needed to be used by SWFRS. The site’s drainage became overwhelmed leading to contaminated water and other pollutants running off the site and into local watercourses.

At  Newport Crown  Court on Thursday June 26,  SL Recycling Ltd was fined £64,000 and ordered to pay £30,000 costs and a victim surcharge of £190.

The firm admitted three separate charges in breach of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 at a previous court hearing.

These were two counts of failing to manage and operate activities in accordance with its fire prevention plan, and failing to stick to its written environmental management plan.

In court mitigation, the company said the fire had been badly managed and the company’s failures in managing its stockpile were due to its rapid growth. It was, its barrister Thomas Crowther said, a failure to manage this growth rather than a deliberate failure.

David Griffiths, industry and waste team leader for Natural Resources Wales said: “Environmental regulations are in place for a reason.

“Failure to comply with the legal requirements of an environmental permit is a serious offence that can damage the environment, undermine those who adhere to the rules and cause misery for local communities.

“This case demonstrates what can happen when operators don’t adhere to the conditions of their permits. Their actions to disregard our warnings about the height of the stockpile led to this fire, which ultimately led to significant environmental impacts.”