A company which exported waste falsely described as clean plastic, when it was actually contaminated with electrical waste including wiring and circuit boards and other mixed waste, has been heavily fined following an investigation by the Environment Agency.
At Preston Magistrates’ Court, 3R Technology UK Ltd pleaded guilty to 14 charges related to shipments of contaminated plastic waste and two to breaching prohibition notices. It was fined £80,000, ordered to pay costs of £45,000 and a victim surcharge of £2000. Its director, Yulin Wang, was sentenced to 120 hours of unpaid work in the community and ordered to pay costs of £15,000 and a victim surcharge of £114.
Emma Viner, Enforcement and Investigations Manager at the Environment Agency, said: “Wang and his company had a complete disregard for the legislation in place to protect the environment and communities, deliberately flouting the law and ignoring notices to cease activity.”
The international regime designed to regulate the movement of waste across borders means exporters must ensure the waste is properly classified, accurately described and only exported with the proper notification and consent, she added.
The investigation was started after a spot check at Felixstowe in 2022 found that the company’s containers were significantly contaminated despite paperwork describing the waste as clean plastic. In 2024, despite the ongoing investigation, an intercepted container at Liverpool was found to have electrical waste tucked to the back of the container, in an effort to conceal it, with the clean waste at the front.
Two prohibition notices were issued in 2024, requiring the company to stop shipping contaminated plastic without compliance with the regulations. However, despite this, in 2025 two more of its containers were found to contain heavily contaminated plastic waste.
