The owner of Kent scrap metal haulier Scrapco Metal Recycling has been ordered to pay £26,600 after pleading guilty to illegally accepting and processing electrical and metal waste.
In a prosecution brought by the Environment Agency (EA) at Sevenoaks Magistrates' Court, Ricky Hunn was fined £20,000 under the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2007 for processing the waste without an environmental permit.
He was also fined £3,000 under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 for failing to provide a written description of the waste and ordered to pay costs of £3,600.
Hunn bought the Scrapco site at Longfield Farm, Paddock Wood, from another waste business during the summer of 2009, with a licence to only accept and process scrap metal from cars and other vehicles.
However, during a routine inspection of the facility in November 2009, EA officers discovered electrical waste intermingled with general scrap as well as large quantities of metal waste.
Uncontained pools of contaminated oil, which had flowed into the site's drainage system and then onto a nearby watercourse, were also found on the site.
The court heard how car-breaking activities, not in line with the terms of the permit granted, were also taking place and records of the wastes not being kept.
Another inspection in January this year found that scrap metal and a considerable amount of electrical waste were spread over the site and still being imported into the business.
Further visits in February and March revealed that the illegal operations at Scrapco were still going on and only limited improvements to the waste management activities had been made.
Jamie Hamilton EA spokesman says: "Prosecution is usually a last resort for us, but it was clear that the situation at the Scrapco site could no longer be tolerated."
