Belfast man jailed for running illegal waste dumping operation

Belfast man jailed for running illegal waste dumping operation NIEA investigators established that companies called A1 Recycling Ltd and Bin It Ltd operated by Coulter were advertising on social media platforms with a mobile phone number 07:06, 26 Jun 2026 A North Belfast man was jailed for nine months on Thursday for running illegal waste dumping operations in the city. Thomas Coulter, 46, of Alliance Court, had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawfully depositing waste and one of keeping unlawful waste. The offences were committed on dates between March 1, 2020 and July 31, 2020 at two separate illegal dump sites on the . Belfast Crown Court heard that on June 9, 2020, an anonymous report was made to the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) which is part of the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) that illegal dumping was taking place at a large shed on the Edenderry Industrial Estate. The caller said a man called 'Tommy Coulter' was "filling the shed with house clearances and allowing other vehicles to deposit waste at the site''. NIEA investigators established that companies called A1 Recycling Ltd and Bin It Ltd operated by Coulter were advertising on social media platforms with a mobile phone number. They were offering the unauthorised collection of waste from commercial and private properties without the relevant waste disposal licences being in force. The illegal collections were being carried out in Belfast and the surrounding areas, said a prosecutor. NIEA officials spoke with some people who had used the companies. One person said they paid £25 for a sofa to be removed while another said they had paid £400 to remove house waste over five occasions. Checks were carried out on the NIEA database which showed there was no valid waste deposit licence in place for the Edenderry site. The court heard Coulter had a previous carrier licence for waste but that had expired in August 2019. NIEA investigators went to the site in June 2020 and spoke with Coulter under caution. He said he operated the site and owned a company called Bin It Ltd and he was carrying out waste collections from houses and charging between £20-£30 per property. Said the prosecutor: "An inspection took place at the site which revealed a large shed containing 'Coulter Recycling' liveried vehicles, roll on skips, piles of segregated wood along with construction and demolition waste.'' The shed was "piled to the roof with British salt bags, paint tins, household items, electrical goods, metal, black bin bags containing household waste, food wrappings and cardboard''. Coulter was advised by NIEA not to bring any more waste onto the site and he was served with a notice to dispose of all waste at Edenderry by July 20, 2020. The court was told on July 3 seven tonnes of waste left the site to a licenced landfill site in Mallusk, Co Antrim. On July 20, NIEA officials met with the owner of the Edenderry site and she was informed that if the waste was not removed she would be held responsible. Two days later they revisited the site and were advised that 60 tonnes of waste had been removed from the site. By July 30, the Edenderry site had been cleared of all waste totalling 386.99 tonnes which had been removed by McKinstry Skip Hire at a cost of £59,45.60p which was paid for by the land owner. On July 14, 2020, the owner of land to the rear of a car washing facility near 259 was informed that illegal waste was being deposited on the site. NIEA investigators attended the site on July 17 and found it contained food waste, wood, black bin bags and a British salt bag. ‌ A total of 123.48 tonnes of waste was removed from the by July 28, 2020 at a cost to DAERA of £27,410.4p In July 2021, Coulter was interviewed under Coulter and he accepted he was operating a waste collection service without a registered carriers licence and no waste management licence was in force at the Edenderry site. He also accepted depositing waste at the . ‌ Belfast Recorder Judge Philip Gilpin told Coulter: 'I am satisfied that your offending was deliberate in nature. "You were running a business at this Edenderry site. You were also the subject of a suspended sentence at this time but not for an offence of a similar nature to this. "You were also subject to a driving disqualification and you were also subject to a community service order imposed in July 2019.'' ‌ Imposing the nine month prison sentence, Judge Gilpin added: "This is a case of high culpability and there were significant volumes of material involved in this case. "It is accepted by the prosecution that by their calculation what is attributable to you is 316 tonnes of waste. "Although there was no actual environmental harm caused to the water quality, your actions, nevertheless did cause a risk of harm. Article continues below "There was upset and inconvenience to those who were living in the area of your offending.'' For all the latest news, visit the homepage here and sign up to our daily newsletter here.