Dr. Stephen Wise is providing expert opinion for a commercial and contractual dispute regarding the design, construction, delivery, and operation of an integrated waste management, recovery, and disposal facility is SE Asia.  The facilities in dispute include the landfill, composting plant, and materials sorting and recycling plant.

The scope of his opinion covers the design, delivery, and performance of the composting plant, materials sorting and recycling plant, the green buffer zone, and the waste characterisation. He has also undertaken a visit to the site in Vietnam.

This is an on-going dispute with a Tribunal hearing currently scheduled for 2026.

Simone Aplin provided opinion for a civil claim between a unitary local Authority in England and their waste collection and treatment contractor.  this was a significant case and required expert input over a period of three years covering waste data, historic waste management practices, waste treatment processes, contract management and markets. Simone also provided expert input to a formal mediation process, through which both parties came to an agreement.

Dr Stephen Wise is providing expert opinion for a contractual dispute regarding the design and commissioning of an anaerobic digestion plant.

The scope of his opinion covers the design, certification, and commissioning of the AD plant in relation to the contract and its relevant provisions.

This is an on-going dispute.

Simone Aplin was appointed as the joint expert in a civil claim involving a car breaker and the landlord. The landlord alleged that the operator was not running the site in accordance with the environmental permit and as such, was not minded to renew the lease.  Simone submitted an expert report, responded to questions and gave verbal evidence in the case.

Dr Stephen Wise provided expert opinion in relation to the termination of the £2billion PFI contract and subsequent commercial dispute that alleged poor design, delivery and performance of the waste treatment infrastructure including enclosed composting plants, residual waste anaerobic digestion plants, energy recovery facilities, and household waste recycling centres.

The scope of Stephen’s expert opinion covered the design, delivery, and operation of the four circa. 50ktpa, enclosed composting plants and whether these were suitable for composting the expected waste, whether they were compliant with the regulations, and whether the compost achieved end of waste status.

The dispute was concluded following the Adjudication.

Simone Aplin provided expert evidence in a civil dispute between an operator of a landfill site in Scotland and a national waste management company.  The dispute centred on the nature and behaviour in the landfill of a specific waste stream tipped by the company for around 20 years.  Simone submitted 2 expert reports covering the classification and testing of the waste, the obligations of the waste producer, the obligations of the landfill operator, environmental monitoring at the site and the potential environmental impact of the waste in the body of the landfill including engineering considerations. 

Simone Aplin provided expert opinion on the extent of asbestos and waste contamination at a domestic property previously used as a commercial plant nursery.  The deceased occupier had allowed associates to dump building waste on the property which did not benefit from an environmental permit or exemption. Simone undertook a desk-based review of correspondence between the deceased and the Environment Agency regarding the offences and visited the site to identity the scale of contamination.  This resulted in an extensive report to the executors detailing findings and estimating the costs of dealing with the contamination.

Simone Aplin provided expert opinion on the environmental impact of waste related offences that were committed on two sites in North Wales.  The offences involved the storage of waste in excess of permitted limits and in breach of the Fire Prevention Plan at one of the sites.  At the other, waste was stored without the benefit of an environmental permit.  Simone prepared an expert report for the sentencing hearing and attended to provide verbal evidence.

Simone provided expert opinion for this case which involved numerus alleged breaches of the environmental performance for a waste transfer station in the West Midlands.  Her report was commended by the Court and as a result, several charges were dropped.  The defendant pleaded guilty to the remaining charges and Simone provided a second report which provided opinion on the scale of environmental harm caused by these offences.  She also gave verbal evidence on this opinion in Court.

Simone Aplin provided expert opinion in POCA proceedings focused on the benefits accrued by the defendants by stockpiling rather than disposing of the waste they received into an illegal waste transfer station.  The expert evidence focused on the Environment Agency’s assessment of the volume, nature and tonnage of waste on site, together with its assessment of the appropriate disposal routes and costs of the stockpile which remained on site.  This amounted to in excess of £1M, however through written and verbal evidence presented under cross examination in Crown Court, Simone was able to demonstrate that there were other, less expensive disposal routes available and therefore that the scale of costs avoided was ~£200k.  Simone was subsequently commissioned by the judge to undertake further work to evaluate the cost of removing the waste and identify contractors to complete the work.

Dr Stephen Wise provided expert opinion to a commercial dispute and contract termination regarding alleged deficiencies in the design, delivery, and performance of the 300ktpa Mechanical Biological Treatment Plant (MBT).

The scope of Stephen’s opinion covered waste collection and quality of waste, the design of the MBT, and the performance of the MBT.

The dispute was concluded following the Adjudication and an out of Court settlement.

Dr Stephen Wise provided expert opinion for a commercial dispute relating to the EPC contract. The dispute centred around allegations of poor design, delivery, and performance of the gasification plant and mechanical pre-treatment plant.

The scope of Stephen’s opinion covered he quality of the RDF fuel, the sampling and testing of the RDF fuel, the design and performance of the mechanical pre-treatment plant, quality assurance systems, and the impact of the RDF on the gasification plant.

The dispute was concluded after a Court Hearing.

Dr Stephen Wise provided expert opinion for a commercial dispute that followed the termination of a PFI contract. The dispute centred on allegations of poor design, delivery and performance of the mechanical biological treatment plant and gasification plant.

The scope of Stephen’s opinion covered feedstock composition, the design and performance of the mechanical treatment process, process improvements, and the quality of the RDF.

The dispute was concluded via an out of Court settlement

Simone Aplin provided expert opinion to a very large waste management company which was facing prosecution for flytipping offences as a result of the actions taken by the driver of a refuse collection vehicle to make safe a load in transit.  Simone travelled the route with the driver and visited the site of the incident before developing the report setting out her opinion.  The threat of prosecution was subsequently withdrawn.

Simone Aplin provided expert witness support to a defendant that had been prosecuted and jailed for offences that led to a fire on their waste transfer station.  The support focused on the environmental impact of the offences and the fire in order to inform the court’s sentencing decision in line with the Guidelines.  Simone was commended by the judge for the verbal evidence she gave in the hearing under cross-examination.

Simone Aplin gave expert opinion in a POCA claim where the Environment Agency was seeking to recover the proceeds of a major waste crime and for which the defendant had been jailed.  The case involved a number of sites at which waste had been deposited illegally and Simone’s input centred on the avoided costs of disposing of wastes on some of these sites. In order to produce an estimate, Simone undertook a detailed review of the evidence which included surveys, statements and photographs.  The assessment took into account the waste types, levels of contamination, potential gates fees/landfill tax etc.  Simone attended court and represented the defendant in discussions with the Environment Agency’s experts who agreed to align his estimate with Simone’s lower figure.

Dr Stephen Wise provided expert opinion for a commercial dispute regarding the operation of a windrow turner at an enclosed composting plant.

The scope of his opinion in relation to the 100ktpa composting plant covered its design, operation, and compliance, plus the performance of the windrow turner.

This dispute was concluded via an out of Court settlement.

Simone Aplin provided expert opinion to a high profile case in the South West of England involving a company that operated two waste management sites and suffered fires and compliance issues on both.   The case was complex and covered a number of issues including infrastructure, waste types and quantities together with the actions of the defendants. The trial was halted by an early guilty plea after the charges were amended.

Dr. Stephen Wise provided expert opinion for a commercial dispute between the parties which centred on whether the quality of the RDF supplied was responsible for the poor performance of the Energy Recovery Facility.

The scope of Stephen’s opinion covered the selection of the fuel supplier, sampling and testing of the RDF, quality of the RDF, and the impact of the RDF on the costs of operating the plant.

This dispute was concluded following Adjudication.