A businessman has admitted illegally dumping textile waste on an industrial estate in Cowbridge.
Environmental officials found Stephen Williams, who ran two waste removal firms, deposited items such as clothing, carpets and mattresses at three sites across Wales without a permit.
Natural Resources Wales (NRW) says it's now seeking a confiscation order against the Bridgend man, who was the sole director of Wenvoe Environmental Ltd and Servmax Ltd.
In February, he pleaded guilty at Cardiff Crown Court to illegal waste disposal between October 2018 and October 2019.
NRW said its investigation began in July 2019 when officers visited a Caerphilly farm and found a significant amount of baled waste textiles in the main yard, with several vehicles containing similar material waiting to be unloaded.
The court heard the textile bales were contaminated with general waste and could be used for what Williams claimed were equine purposes, such as horse bedding.
He was told immediately not to deposit any further material, but in follow-up visits to the Pen Yr Heol Las Farm, more waste was found on the site - which deemed to be a high fire risk by South Wales Fire and Rescue Service.
Williams was served with a legal notice requiring him to remove all of the waste to a legal site by 30th August 2019 - but he failed to comply with that and a separate request to provide information to NRW under the Environmental Protection Act.
Yet in May 2019, landowners at a unit on the Crossways Industrial Estate in Cowbridge found bales of textile waste had been dumped there illegally by Williams.
The unit's owners ended up having to remove the waste themselves at a personal cost of £48,790, when Williams - and his company - failed to comply with another legal notice to move the material to an authorised waste facility.
In this case, he went to plead guilty to not taking the appropriate measures applicable as a waste broker as were reasonable to prevent the contravention of another person depositing controlled waste.
Then, in October 2019, NRW officers made a similar discovery at Hengwrt in Dolgellau, where 527 tonnes of textile waste were illegally dumped.
Servmax Ltd was issued a legal notice to remove the waste from the site, which Mr Williams again failed to comply with.
At Cardiff Crown Court, the judge adjourned sentencing in order for a Proceeds of Crime Application timetable to be set for recovering money from Mr Williams, clearing the sites at Caerphilly and Hengwrt, and reimbursing the landowners at the Crossways unit in Cowbridge.
Su Fernandez, senior environment officer at NRW, said: "Environmental regulations are in place for a reason. Permits are required for businesses that move and store waste, to make sure this is done in a way that does not pose a risk to the environment or human health."
"We work closely with operators to make sure activities comply with the law and provide support and guidance when required. Disposing of waste illegally undermines businesses that comply with regulations and invest in the required measures."
"We take offences of this nature very seriously. We won’t hesitate to take the appropriate steps to protect people and nature and help safeguard the marketplace for legitimate operators."
A spokesperson for NRW added the environmental body is "now seeking to obtain a Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) confiscation order which seeks to obtain the financial benefit that the defendant has gained from his criminal conduct."
Sentencing will take place at a later date.
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