Exclusive: Environment watchdog advised in 2021 the material ‘should not be used broadly’, before backing away from proposals to tighten regulations

In the EPA’s brief to Kean, the regulator provided more detailed background, saying inspections of waste facilities as part of an investigation in 2019 had found “recovered fines produced by facilities were not fit for purpose and pose a risk to the community and the environment”.

The EPA told Kean that in addition to poor industry compliance with regulations, it found the products were of poor quality and contained significant amounts of microplastics, chemically treated timbers, synthetic mineral fibres and some asbestos.