The investigation found the company failed to adequately assess its contaminated asbestos stockpiles and handle waste appropriately at each of three sites in the north west of England. The regulator found a significant number of failings concerning the identification, sampling and subsequent management of asbestoscontaining waste. The regulator has served enforcement notices on the company requiring it to ensure that it properly assesses all its asbestoscontaining waste. SSE has today pleaded guilty to offences under the Asbestos Disposal Kidsgrove Act and to three breaches of Environmental Permitting Regulations at Donnington Precinct, Winghay Close, Kidsgrove, Staffordshire, the Longbridge Hayes site at Longport and the Heywood Distribution Park in Bury.

The prosecution follows a joint investigation by the Environment Agency's National Waste Crime Unit (NWCU) and Cheshire Police. The safety of staff was paramount for the disposal of waste asbestos at these three sites. The site staff had clear instructions and a permit was in place to control and limit asbestos dust in the air. Asbestos Disposal Kidsgrove were skilled in assessing, disposing of, packaging up and transporting waste asbestos materials that arrived at their sites. Waste disposal services Kidsgrove are to a new site called the "Envoke Centre," a threeacre complex that will treat hazardous waste from across the UK.

The company's activities came under review after inspections by its Environment Agency enforcement counterparts at the Health & Safety Executive in 2013. The investigation revealed that the company had failed to manage most of the waste produced at two of its recycling facilities – Peel Street in Longport, Staffordshire and Winghay Close in Kidsgrove, Staffordshire – in ways which ensured that the waste could not be identified as asbestoscontaining materials (ACMs) or at risk of contamination.