Patricia Hills has been ordered to pay back £250,000 after she was previously jailed for operating her skip hire company illegally.
Hills, 72, was given three months to pay the order or she faces up to three years in jail. She was also ordered to pay £25,000 in costs.
Following an investigation, the Environment Agency previously revoked MWM Recycling Ltd’s environmental permit after a series of breaches.
The company was also issued with an enforcement notice to clear a site where waste was illegally stored and burned.
This sends out a message to the industry that waste crime does not pay and not only will we hit people with court action, but we’ll hit them in the pocket.
At Liverpool Crown Court in March 2022, Hills was jailed for a year and banned from being a company director for five years.
Hills’ son, Mark Hills, 48, ran the day-to-day site operations and was also jailed for eight months.
The Environment Agency previously secured a confiscation order against him for £40,000 in December 2024, which has since been paid.
Jeni Brittlebank, Area Environment Manager for the Environment Agency, said: “This sends out a message to the industry that waste crime does not pay and not only will we hit people with court action, but we’ll hit them in the pocket.
“Illegal waste operations carried out in the interests of profit are at the expense of the environment, put communities at risk and undermine legitimate businesses that work within the law.”