Atlantic Recycling: Gething donor firm admits new offence

A company that is part of a group that donated £200,000 to Welsh Labour leadership candidate Vaughan Gething pleaded guilty to an environmental offence in January.

Atlantic Recycling pleaded guilty to failing to operate according to a condition of its permit in Cardiff Crown Court, according to regulators.

The company is yet to be sentenced for the offence.

A spokesperson said the firm could not comment on the matter.

Atlantic Recycling is part of Dauson Environmental Group, which gave Vaughan Gething £100,000 on 18 December 2023, and £100,000 on 11 January 2024.

Plaid Cymru called for Mr Gething to return the cash. MS Mabon ap Gwynfor said on X, formerly known as Twitter: "The situation is unsustainable and unbecoming."

Mr Gething's campaign has said the donations were declared in line with the rules.

The company, and its director David John Neal, were previously prosecuted for environmental offences in 2013 and 2017.

Atlantic Recycling was also recently fined £300,000 over the death of a worker.

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The company pleaded guilty, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) said, to a single offence on 30 January 2024.

The offence alleged that between 14 July 2019 and 26 July 2019 at the company's site in Newton Road, Cardiff, it failed to comply with an environmental permit by failing to "manage and operate their activities in accordance with their written fire prevention plan".

Atlantic Recycling had sought permission to appeal the conviction to the Court of Appeal, which sat in Swansea on Wednesday, but its application was refused.

NRW, which is Wales' environmental regulator, said the company had submitted a basis for its plea which was not accepted by the prosecution.

Vaughan Gething's campaign said all of his donations were in line with rules and his commitment to transparency

A so-called Newton hearing to determine the facts will need to take place before the court proceeds to sentence, NRW said, adding a date for the hearing had not been fixed.

Atlantic Recycling and its director David John Neal were prosecuted in 2013 for illegally dumping waste on the Gwent Levels, and in 2017 for failing to clean the waste up.

Mr Neal was fined £10,000 and given a three month suspended sentence in 2013, and was handed an 18 week suspended sentence in 2017, together with fines and costs of £230,000.

Atlantic Recycling said: "Since these are ongoing judicial proceedings and we are still awaiting the final decision, we have been advised that it would be inappropriate to comment at this stage."

Donations 'did not break rules'

Mr Gething is one of two candidates in the Welsh Labour leadership race. Voting in the contest closed on Thursday at midday.

His campaign said: "All donations are declared to both the Senedd and the Electoral Commission in line with the rules and Vaughan's commitment to transparency.

"Vaughan Gething's leadership manifesto pledges to strengthen enforcement action to protect the environment and pledges stricter penalties for those who break environmental rules."

Appearing on BBC Radio Wales Breakfast before the new offence emerged, outgoing First Minister Mark Drakeford said "no rules had been broken" by the donations.

"Some of the things that are said that somehow the donation means that somebody has been advantaged in decisions that the Welsh government makes is categorically untrue."