The authority has served the site with two enforcement notices which require the owners of the site, Fenix Battery Recycling, to remove the waste batteries that have been stored at the West Byre hill Industrial Estate for longer than six months. It has also suspended approval as an Approved Battery Treatment Operator (ABTO).
According to SEPA, the only activities that can currently be carried out at the site is the removal of waste to licensed facilities.
Lin Bunten, SEPA chief operating officer, regulation, business and environment, said: “The package of enforcement action we have set out is in response to a significant incident and designed to protect the environment and communities in the area surrounding the Fenix Battery Recycling site in Kilwinning. The decision to suspend a licence is never taken lightly, but it is one of the enforcement tools we have available and one we will use when we believe it is required to prevent risk of harm to the environment.
“The operator is required to remove the waste which breaches licence conditions offsite to an appropriately licensed facility by the dates we have set out in the Enforcement Notices.
“The suspension of the Waste Management Licence (WML) will remain in place until we are satisfied that the conditions as specified in the suspension notice have been adhered to – which include requirements concerning site infrastructure, a fire prevention and mitigation plan and fire detection system.
Previous action
According to SEPA, it has suspended Kilwinning battery recycling plant’s license previously in November 2023, after it failed to comply with a notice that stated the company must reduce the number of batteries stored on the site, that were classed as special waste under The Special Waste Regulations 1996.
The authority also stated it was preparing to issue a further notice regarding a breach of the time limit conditions for battery storage when the fire took place.
Ms Buten added: “We partially suspended Fenix Battery Recycling’s licence last year when it failed to comply with a previous enforcement notice we served. This prevented them receiving any more special waste on site after 17.00pm on 3 November 2023. We will not hesitate to take further action, in line with our enforcement policy, as required.”
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