Firm fined £8,000 over landfill odour

UK firm WRG Waste Services has been fined £8,000 after allowing a landfill site it runs to emanate an odour which dogged local residents.

The problem went on for over 11 weeks and the firm pleaded guilty at Airdrie Sherrif Court to the charge of allowing the landfill odour to transcend the boundaries of the site.

According to an environment official, the smell could be detected up to five miles away from the landfill site.

The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency’s John Higgins commented: "Landfill odours can have a seriously detrimental effect on people, in this case a large number of homeowners on an almost daily basis."

More than 300 complaints concerning the problem were registered within four months.

WRG is one of the UK’s largest waste management services, disposing of around 13 million tonnes of household, industrial and commercial waste annually.