The boss of a skip business operating seven HGVs has pleaded guilty to breaching environmental laws after storing skips overflowing with rubbish at his Braintree site.
Roy Brett ignored repeated warnings about the amount of skips and waste built up at the site through his company, RJ Brett Contracts, which also admitted breaking the law.
The Environment Agency said Brett claimed he “didn’t do emails” so missed written instructions to remove the waste.
Investigators found Brett stored too much wood, metal, textiles and builders’ rubbish in relation to the size of his yard.
There was barely any free space, with skips overflowing with more rubbish, including mattresses and soil.
By January 2025 almost 50 skips filled the yard, some stacked on top of others.
Lesley Robertson, enforcement team leader for the Environment Agency, said: “Roy Brett is a director of three other skip-hire companies in Essex.
“It doesn’t seem plausible that someone with his years of experience in the waste industry misunderstood that he didn’t need an environmental permit or what low-risk activity was allowed for exemption from needing one.
“Brett and his company undercut rivals by avoiding permitting and subsistence fees. They also evaded permit conditions designed to protect the environment.”
Brett and RJ Brett Contracts will be sentenced at Colchester magistrates’ court on 15 May.
Year: 2014 | Body Type: Skip | Cab Type: Day | Registration: GN64TCO | Mileage: 326,000 km | Category: Rigids
