PONTARDAWE: Firm boss must pay almost £3,000 after three piles of business waste dumped on mountain road
A Swansea businessman must pay almost £3,000 after three large piles of commercial waste were dumped on Baran Road in Pontardawe.
Black bags, food packaging and cardboard were left in three separate heaps on the road in November 2025, Neath Port Talbot Council says.
Thomas Daniel Landek, 37, of Maes y Gwernen Drive, Cwmrhydyceirw, pleaded guilty at Swansea Magistrates’ Court to an offence under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 relating to the illegal deposit of controlled waste.
He was fined £1,152 and ordered to pay a £461 victim surcharge, plus £1,246.46 in prosecution costs and compensation: £2,859.46 in total.
Baran Road waste traced to a Swansea business
The council’s waste enforcement officers found evidence in the rubbish linking it to a business premises in Swansea.
That business’s waste had been collected by a company owned and run by Landek, and investigators also linked the dumped waste to a vehicle he controlled, the council says.
Black bags, food packaging and blue paper towels spread across the verge and road (Image: Neath Port Talbot Council)Interviewed under caution, Landek confirmed he was the company’s sole director, and that a subcontractor had done the collection using one of his company’s vehicles, according to the council.
Scott Jones: ‘serious harm to the surrounding environment’
“This case involved several large piles of commercial waste in Pontardawe, which would have caused serious harm to the surrounding environment,” said Cllr Scott Jones, the council’s cabinet member for streetscene.
“Fly-tipping damages our communities, countryside and public spaces, and we will continue investigating offences thoroughly and making those responsible be held accountable for their actions.”
He reminded businesses and householders “of the importance of ensuring that anyone they pay to remove waste is properly authorised and disposes of it lawfully”.
A £1,152 fine, more than double last week’s Gwrhyd Road case
His fine is more than double the £440 handed to an Ystradgynlais man last week for dumping household junk on the mountain road above Rhiwfawr.
In July, a Morriston man was fined £200 after oil-covered car parts were strewn along two miles of road in the Dulais Valley.
The most a Welsh council can currently hand out on the spot for fly-tipping is £400, and the Welsh Government is consulting on raising that to £5,000 until 14 October.
Neath Port Talbot recorded 884 fly-tipping incidents in 2024/25, up 40% on the year before, according to Welsh Government figures. The council has also been crushing fly-tippers’ vans.
Anyone paying for waste to be taken away can check a waste carrier’s licence on the Natural Resources Wales register.
Related stories from Swansea Bay News
YSTRADGYNLAIS: Man hit with £1,200-plus bill for dumping household junk on Gwrhyd mountain road
Last week’s Neath Port Talbot prosecution.
LITTER: You could be fined for rubbish thrown from your car even if you weren’t in it, and fly-tippers could face £5,000
The consultation on tougher on-the-spot fines, open until 14 October.
FLY-TIPPING: Morriston man must pay more than £1,400 after waste strewn along two miles of Dulais Valley road
Oil-covered car parts between Crynant and Cilfrew.
More on fly-tipping
Every prosecution and crackdown across south west Wales.