Waste including human body parts was stockpiled at a Dundee depot because there was “nowhere for it go”, a court has heard.
A former Healthcare Environmental Services boss said workers were instructed to transfer rubbish from storage tubs into bigger bins to maximise space.
William Robertson said hazardous anatomical waste that should have been kept separately in a refrigerator was instead mixed with other materials in the trailers.
The company and Garry Pettigrew are on trial at Hamilton Sheriff Court over the alleged illegal storage of waste.
Pettigrew was managing director when the firm went into liquidation in 2019 after losing NHS contracts in Scotland and England.
More than 200 people worked at its plants in Dundee, Shotts and Lanarkshire.
The company stored and processed waste from every hospital in Scotland.
Storage in Dundee
The court heard previously, officers from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) made a series of visits to the Shotts facility from late 2018 onwards because of concerns over storage capacity.
They found a huge fridge full of “anatomical and pathological waste” that appeared to have been stored longer than the statutory three-month limit.
Mr Robertson, who was manager of the Dundee facility when it closed in December 2018, said “all types of clinical waste” arrived there.
Material that could not be treated was transferred to company headquarters in Shotts.
Mr Robertson, 53, told prosecutor Emma Jeffrey: “Waste was going weekly to Shotts to begin with but latterly that happened less because there was pretty much nowhere for it to go.
“Waste was being stored (in Dundee) that shouldn’t have been.
“We were instructed to transfer it from 60 and 22-litre tubs and put it in bins as we would get more in the trailers.”
Shown photos of trailer contents, Mr Robertson said: “That’s mixed waste – pharmacy and anatomical.”
The witness said trailers were allowed to stay on the site for seven days before being moved.
Asked what happened to them when they left Dundee, he replied: “I don’t know.”
HES was responsible for disposing of clinical waste from every medical facility in Scotland and 17 NHS England boards prior to ceasing trading on December 27 2018.
Pettigrew, 55, of Shotts, denies allegations HES breached regulations, including storing waste at the Dundee plant for longer than rules allowed.
Stockpiling charges
The trial previously heard allegations Pettigrew stockpiled tonnes of medical waste at his site in Shotts in a bid to save money while he waited on a new incinerator being built.
Prosecutors allege HES stored large quantities of waste for longer than the seven days permitted and that one trailer containing pharmaceutical waste was broken into at their plant in Dundee.
It is also claimed HES moved waste to areas with insufficient storage space and kept waste at the plant for longer than regulations allow.
Charges denied
Pettigrew denies illegally storing more than 187 tonnes of hazardous waste at his firm’s headquarters near Shotts, between May 2017 and April 2019.
The firm faces a charge it failed to move unprocessed waste from refrigerated trailers.
The charges state Pettigrew gave consent in his role as managing director of the firm and that it was “attributable to neglect” on his part.
He also denies he refused or failed to provide environmental officers access to HES plants in Dundee and Shotts.
The trial before Sheriff Liam Murphy continues.
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