Windmill Services - Simonswood Industrial Estate - Kirkby

Windmill Services Ltd, located at Simonswood Industrial Estate in Liverpool, is a waste management company that handles services such as skip hire, muck removal, and the sale of aggregates. The Environment Agency (EA) has taken enforcement action against Windmill Services Ltd due to breaches of their environmental permit at their site, specifically for exceeding permitted waste storage capacity. Under the environment permitting regulations, a regulation 37 enforcement notice was served; suspending the acceptance of waste at the site. This is commonly referred to as a Suspension Notice. In addition to this, there was already in force a Regulation 36 Notice under the same legislation that was effectively in place to reduce the volume of waste stored on site.

From our compliance inspections we are aware that their is an excess of 300, 000 m3 of waste.

The EA continues its regulatory oversight to ensure compliance with environmental regulations. If you suspect illegal waste activity, please report it to our 24-hour incident hotline on 0800 80 70 60, or anonymously to Crimestoppers at 0800 555 111.

The environmental permit for Windmill Services Ltd at Simonswood Industrial Estate is identified as EPR/GB3102HD.

This permit is for waste operations, allowing them to use, recycle, treat, store, or dispose of waste. However, as previously mentioned, their permit was suspended, meaning they must cease accepting waste, and they are required to remove existing excess waste.

We take enforcement action in line with our enforcement and sanctions policy(External link) and the Government’s core guidance on environmental permitting(External link) if the company breach their permit conditions. We also take account of the Regulators' Code(External link).

• Permit Conditions: Every environmental permit, including EPR/GB3102HD for Windmill Services Ltd, includes detailed conditions. These specify what activities can take place, the types and quantities of waste allowed, and limits on any emissions to air, land, or water. They also require operators to have strong management systems in place to prevent pollution.

• Regular Inspections and Monitoring: Our officers conduct both announced and unannounced inspections of permitted sites. During these visits, we check that operations meet permit requirements, review records, and assess environmental performance. We also review data submitted by operators and conduct our own independent monitoring and sampling where necessary.

• Addressing Public Concerns: We take all public complaints seriously. Reports from the community about issues such as odour, dust, or vehicle movements linked to a site are thoroughly investigated, often leading to immediate site visits and further assessment of compliance.

• Enforcement Action: When permit conditions are breached, the EA has a range of enforcement tools. For Windmill Services Ltd, due to significant non-compliance, we have taken firm action:

  • Environmental Permit Suspension Notice (EPSN): Issued on March 24, 2025 (effective March 28, 2025), this legally requires Windmill Services Ltd to immediately stop accepting all waste at the site. This suspension remains in force indefinitely.

  • Enforcement Notice: This separate notice legally compels the company to remove an amount of excess waste from the site.

• Ongoing Oversight: Following enforcement actions, our regulatory oversight intensifies. We are conducting regular site inspections, using tools like drone surveys, and closely monitoring the progress of work required by our notices. This ensures the company takes the necessary steps to rectify the breaches and minimize environmental risk.

The EA's priority is to ensure that permitted sites operate within the law, safeguarding the environment and local communities from harm. We continue to hold operators accountable and will not hesitate to use our powers to enforce environmental regulations.

On Thursday 14 August EA officers undertook a site visit and inspection at Windmill Services focussed on the compliance with the suspension notice that was originally served in March 2025.  Following that inspection that suspension notice has now been withdrawn.  That withdrawal took effect from Tuesday 19 August.

We remain concerned that full operation of the site still presents a risk from odour to the community.  We have served an additional regulatory compliance enforcement notice to make sure that the operator has robust measures in place to prevent odour and treat waste appropriately at the site.  Should they fail to provide any assurance on ‘appropriate measures’ to control odour, or cause impact on the local residents and businesses, we will consider escalated enforcement action once again.  

We have made clear to Windmill Services that they must not cause odour and take all measures to prevent any odour from their activities. 

There remains in place an older existing regulatory compliance notice that requires Windmill services to reduce the volume of waste stored on site.  If Windmill Services don’t do that they may face escalation of enforcement action. 

Windmill Services are aware that there will be a strong EA regulatory presence in and around the local area over the coming weeks and months, this will include both announced and unannounced visits.  We will also keep the local MPs Anneliese Midgley and Ashley Dalton, local councillors and you the community updated. 

We will keep this engagement HQ page up to date.  Our first objective is to ensure that the operator does not impact people and the environment.  We want the operator to reduce the risk on site by reducing the waste volume, and do this in a controlled way that prevents odour and dust impact on the community.  If they are unable to do this, we will take robust action.

We would be grateful if you could report any odour incidents directly to us at the time of occurrence using our 24 hours, 7 days a week, incident number 0800 80 70 60. Odour incidents can also be reported to us online. This enables us to assess the situation as it happens.

Our main focus has been to bring Windmill Services Limited back into compliance with its permit and to reduce risks, including odour.

• 2023: We found Windmill Services Limited was storing too much waste – a survey in May 2023 showed it was four times over its permitted limit. We issued an enforcement notice in July 2023 requiring them to reduce the waste. While over 40,000 tonnes were removed, waste levels remained above permitted limits.
• Dust Monitoring (2023-2024): We conducted dust monitoring for 12 months. The results showed that air quality was within the health-based limits set out in the UK Air Quality Strategy and did not indicate levels of dust that would cause health concerns.
• 2024: We continued to monitor waste removal. A second enforcement notice was issued to ensure Windmill Services Limited continued to reduce waste levels, as they were still too high. We also increased our site inspections and reviews of their operations. The company was required to produce an odour management plan, which they completed in July 2024.
• 2025: We have continued to monitor the site. The second enforcement notice to reduce waste is still active, with a deadline of 30 November 2025. The site remains above its permitted waste limits.

The increase in odour complaints since the start of 2025 is likely due to historic and non-permitted waste being disturbed and exposed to the air during ongoing site activities. In response, we have increased odour monitoring in residential areas and have brought in national odour specialists to assess the site's operations.

There has been a recent change in the management and directorship of Windmill Services Limited.

In March 2025, the Environment Agency found further breaches of their permit. These included misdescribing waste and bringing non-permitted waste onto the site. While waste is still being removed, these new issues have increased the potential risks of fire, leachate (contaminated water), odour, and litter.

As a result, on 24 March 2025, the Environment Agency served a Regulation 37 Suspension Notice. This notice stops Windmill Services Limited from bringing any more waste onto the site until the most recently accepted non-permitted waste is removed.

Our in-depth review found that increases in odour in the community coincided with these non-permitted waste inputs. We received over 240 reports of odour from the public in March 2025. Although there has been a recent reduction in odour complaints, this may be due to weather conditions and wind direction. Our odour specialists are reviewing the odour management measures required of the operator.

The Environment Agency has informed the private landowners of the risks on site and their potential role and responsibility should Windmill Services Limited be unable to meet the conditions of the permit and potential site abandonment.

We will keep this situation under review we continue to require the company to minimise the impact on the community and ultimately remove non-compliant waste on site.

We will maintain an increased focus on the site.

• Our regulatory officers will regularly monitor the removal of waste and actions taken to reduce odour impacts.
• We aim to have officers in the community regularly, in addition to our enforcement actions.
• The Environment Agency is engaging regularly with the local authority to keep elected members updated on the issue.
• We will provide regular updates to the community through this engagement site. 
• We will consider further regulatory action, which could include revoking Windmill Services Limited's environmental permit.
• We are working in partnership with other bodies such as Knowsley Council, Lancashire County Council and West Lancs Council around the wider Simonswood Estate.
• We are working with the local MPs Anneliese Midgley and Ashley Dalton at their request to keep the community informed and consider any further public engagement.