A businessman from Powys has been jailed for four months for illegally recycling fridges and freezers.
Magistrates in Brecon heard how Clifford Matthews shredded thousands of them at his recycling firm near Knighton, despite not having a proper licence.
The environment agency said the public were deliberately put at risk by the 48-year-old’s actions.
It is estimated that it will cost up to a quarter of a million pounds to safely clean up the site.
The court heard how Matthews was told three times not to recycle the fridges and freezers after being visited by the environment agency – but he ignored the warnings.
This was despite not having the proper equipment to carry out the procedure.
And when he did obtain a licence for the site – which is still littered with partly-dismantled fridges and freezers – he greatly exceeded its limits.
The court was told that he had 6,000 fridges at the site, instead of the 400 that were allowed.
The environment agency claimed the public had been put in danger due to the potentially harmful CFCs and toxins created during the process.
John Bateman from the agency inspected the site and said it out the public “at risk”.
“The waste was stored outside on public land,” he said.
“If it had caught fire the amount of toxins coming off would have been considerable, and the site is right next to a residential area.”
On Wednesday the agency said the sentence had sent out a clear warning to the recycling industry that if they put the public at risk by ignoring rules they would face severe punishment.
One of Matthews’ relatives said the family were shocked by the sentence and that he would be appealing against it.
“I’m totally outraged by the outcome of this,” he said, adding,” he’s clearly being used as an example.”
Matthews had admitted three charges under the environmental protection act.
From The BBC