Failing to get a permit for veterinary waste has seen a pet cremation firm pay for environmental improvements.
Thanks to Environment Agency intervention, Valley Pet Crematorium in Paignton has agreed to pay £60,000 to Westcountry Rivers Trust as part of its mission to improve the passage of salmon and other fish in the Teign catchment.
Jonathan Macqueen of the Environment Agency said
While no environmental harm resulted from this mistake, the rules are there to protect the environment and ensure a level playing field across the waste industry.
Carrying, storing and dealing with different types of waste requires a permit and we firmly regulate industry to make sure everyone is compliant with the law.
Valley Pet Crematorium failed to get a new permit to run a clinical waste transfer station when it moved from Exeter to a new site in Aspen Way, Paignton, in January 2023.
While the firm had a valid waste carrier licence, a separate permit was needed to store healthcare waste it collected from veterinary practices and brought back to the Paignton facility. The mistake came to light 18 months later during an Environment Agency compliance investigation.
Once the issue became known, Valley Pet Crematorium was told to immediately stop storing and remove any veterinary waste. The firm also had to apply for a new permit.
Valley Pet Crematorium continued to collect waste but took it directly to approved sites for disposal. A new permit was issued in November 2024 which allowed storage at the Paignton premises.
Valley Pet Crematorium told the Environment Agency ‘it is a matter of intense regret that the company did not obtain the permit in the timely manner it should have done’. The firm has offered an enforcement undertaking – a sanction that avoids prosecution in return for funding environmental projects. It also invested heavily into a waste management tracking system.
A spokesperson for Westcountry Rivers Trust said
This funding will deliver direct and lasting benefits for the River Teign and the fish species that depend on it.
Although no pollution or fish fatalities resulted from this case, the Enforcement Undertaking process allows money to be put back into direct environmental improvements. We will use the £60,000 contribution to remove or ease significant barriers to fish migration, helping Atlantic salmon, trout and European eel reach spawning and nursery habitats.
We expect this work to reconnect at least 10km of river habitat across the Teign catchment. That means a better chance for migratory fish to complete their life cycles and a healthier, more resilient river system.
This project also complements wider nature recovery work across the catchment, including habitat restoration, barrier removal and action to restore more natural river processes.
Background
What is an enforcement undertaking (EU)?
An EU is available to the Environment Agency as an alternative sanction to prosecution or monetary penalty for dealing with certain environmental offences.
It is a legally-binding voluntary agreement proposed by a business (or an individual) when the EA has reasonable grounds to suspect that an environmental offence has occurred.
EUs for environmental offences were introduced under the Environmental Civil Sanctions (England) Order 2010 and the Environmental Civil Sanctions (Miscellaneous Amendments) (England) Regulations 2010.