Our Experts
- Phil White
- Waste Facility Operations and Regulation
- Simone Aplin
- Waste & Resource Management and Compliance
- Mark Sayers
- Producer Responsibility & Product and Packaging Compliance Schemes
- Ellen Struthers
- Waste Service Operations and Material Recycling
- Marco Barlettani
- Environmental Contamination and Impact Assessment
- Dr Roberto Salvati
- Contaminated Land and Environmental Due Diligence
Our Expert Witness Expertise
Anthesis’ global, senior specialists provide independent expert witness services in a broad range of matters concerning resource and waste management and regulation, compliance and environmental impact assessment, and due diligence.
Our recognised experts provide clients with clear and robust expert opinion, grounded in our direct experience in environmental regulation, industry, local authority operations, and government policy. The team is supported by over 1,000 global sustainability professionals.
We can support the following topics:
- Waste management and recycling operations, compliance, and good practice throughout the chain of custody, including collection, transfer, treatment, recovery, and disposal.
- Defence expert opinion in prosecutions by the Environment Agency and other national regulators.
- Alleged breaches of environmental permits and legislation, including the Environmental Protection Act 1990, statutory waste Duty of Care Code of Practice, Permitting Regulations, Packaging Regulations, and Waste Shipments Regulation.
- Assessment of potential and actual environmental impacts, harm, and contamination of soils, land, and water resources.
- Analysis of costs of waste clearance and site remediation, considering appropriate recovery and disposal options.
- Analysis of performance test data for waste treatment facility operations and statistical analysis of waste and material flows.
- Air emission control and abatement and air quality assessment.
- Waste classification, composition, quantification, and end of waste advice.
- Materials Recycling Facility (MRF) operations, performance, and material testing.
- Producer Responsibility compliance scheme obligations and investigation of Packaging Recovery Note (PRN) fraud.
- Supporting expertise in environmental due diligence, waste sector commercial and market due diligence, waste and resource policy, strategy and, secondary commodity markets, environmental regulations, and international standards.
 |
Phil White |
| Waste Facility Operations and Regulation | |
| Contact Phil | |
- Chartered Waste Manager with over 25 years’ experience in the environment sector, including over 20 years in waste regulation, policy, and consultancy.
- Expertise in waste site operations, good practice, regulatory compliance, waste classification and quantification, and due diligence, covering a range of waste, recycling & secondary materials processing technologies.
- Extensive experience in providing expert opinion since 2010 in commercial & insurance disputes, civil & criminal cases.
- Experience spans pre-action advice to cross-examination in Crown Court and includes, attending Magistrates Court (prosecution and defence), adjudications; libel cases; Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearings; tribunals; and joint expert discussions.
- Eight years’ investigation and enforcement experience as a regulator. UK focus with experience in international cases.
Phil is a Chartered Waste Manager with over 25 years’ experience in the environment sector, including over 20 years in waste regulation, policy and consultancy. He has provided expert opinion in commercial & insurance disputes and civil & criminal matters since 2010, supported by technical and commercial knowledge and 8 years’ investigation and enforcement experience as a regulator with the Environment Agency. Phil advises both defence and prosecution teams.
Phil has acted as an independent expert in many prosecutions, disputes and in ‘pre-action’ matters, preparing expert reports in compliance with CPR requirements. He has experience in adjudications, arbitration, Crown Court cross-examination, tribunals, libel cases, and joint expert discussions. His criminal expert experience covers illegal waste shipment, illegal waste deposit, permit breaches, statutory duty of care offences, Packaging Recovery Note (PRN) fraud, and Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) matters, from nationally significant cases to matters resolved by Civil Sanctions. Phil’s opinion has supported beneficial outcomes in several cases, including the withdrawal of charges, settlement outcomes, successful adjudication outcomes, and successfully challenging enforcement actions (e.g. from prosecution to enforcement undertaking).
Phil’s expert witness advice is underpinned by experience in providing strategic and operational advice, including waste treatment infrastructure and technology selection and performance; technical, commercial, and regulatory due diligence assessments; regulatory compliance, permitting and good practice; waste infrastructure procurement; and waste facility construction and operations monitoring. Phil’s experience enables him to advise across a comprehensive range of waste types, recovered materials and processing technologies, including mechanical sorting, organic waste recovery, integrated mechanical-biological treatment, secondary raw material production, and energy from waste thermal treatment.
As an Environmental Agency (EA) officer in policy and operational roles, Phil developed an in-depth working knowledge of waste policy and legislation, including through site inspections, audits and enforcement. As prosecuting officer in several cases, notably a complex two-year joint EA-HSE investigation into a nationally significant incident and breaches, Phil gained experience in investigations, statement taking, evidential requirements and PACE procedures, and interviews under caution.
 |
Simone Aplin |
| Waste & Resource Management and Compliance | |
| CONTACT SIMONE | |
- Chartered Waste Manager with over 25 years’ experience in waste and resource management.
- Waste industry experience as a landfill manager, previously holding a Certificate of Technical Competence (CoTC) for hazardous waste landfill.
- Nine years’ regulation and waste strategy experience with the Environment Agency.
- Extensive experience in providing expert opinion since 2016 in civil & criminal cases, including relating to waste classification & quantification, environmental permit breaches, and duty of care offences.
- Presented evidence at Crown Court trial and Sentencing Hearings and negotiated reductions in prosecution assessments of quantum, costs of waste clearance considering appropriate recovery and disposal options, and assessment of environmental harm.
Simone is a Chartered Waste Manager with 25 years’ experience in waste and resource management gained in industry, regulation, and consulting, giving her an in-depth understanding of waste legislation and its application by the regulator. Since 2016, Simone has provided expert opinion in a number of criminal and civil cases and Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearings. This includes a tier one waste management company charged with an offence under the statutory duty of care (section 34 Environmental Protection Act 1990) and for several waste facility operators charged with alleged breaches of their environmental permits.
Simone has prepared numerous expert reports in compliance with CPR requirements and has given verbal evidence in Court in cases involving waste offences and their impact on the environment. Simone has presented evidence and been cross-examined in sentencing hearings, successfully negotiating reductions in prosecution assessments of quantum, costs of waste clearance, considering appropriate recovery and disposal options, and assessment of environmental harm.
Simone advises both defence and prosecution teams and has provided extensive advice to the Environment Agency relating to addressing waste crime and measuring the effectiveness of additional funding and interventions to tackle waste crime. This experience, combined with her previous experience in the waste management industry and as a regulatory officer, gives her excellent insight into the regulator’s approach to compliance and enforcement. Simone is currently working with the UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) and the devolved administrations to develop a digital waste tracking solution for the UK. At the heart of this solution is preventing the potential for deliberate non-compliance and rapidly identifying potential waste crime to regulators.
Simone’s expert advice is underpinned by her wider guidance to a wide range of public and private sector clients on waste management regulation and compliance. Simone also provides commercial and regulatory due diligence advice in transactions involving waste facilities, portfolios and companies, and leads on waste feedstock market assessments, having an excellent understanding of current waste data.
 |
Mark Sayers |
| Producer Responsibility & Compliance Schemes | |
| CONTACT MARK | |
- 16 years’ experience, including 12 years with a UK multi-regulation compliance scheme, handling members registrations and recycling obligations.
- Expert in compliance management for waste electrical & electronic equipment (WEEE), battery and packaging producer responsibility schemes.
- Deep understanding of producer responsibility legislation and how it affects producers and able to make complex legislation simple and understandable.
- Extensive experience of representing clients at Environment Agency audits for WEEE and Packaging Regulations, helping the regulator understand how producers are meeting their obligations.
- Experience in securing compliance and agreeing enforcement undertakings (civil sanctions) as part of a process of bringing obligated producers into full regulatory compliance.
Mark is a producer responsibility compliance specialist with over 16 years’ experience in the sector. He is a recognised expert in compliance management for producer responsibility schemes and has a deep understanding of producer responsibility legislation from the industry’s perspective. Mark joined Anthesis after 12 years at Ecosurety, a UK multi-regulation compliance scheme, where he had responsibility for compliance management for WEEE, battery and packaging producer responsibility schemes, handling recycling obligations for over 1,000 scheme members.
Mark has a thorough understanding of the technicalities of the producer responsibility laws and how they affect producers placing packaged goods, electronic devices and battery containing products onto the market. He has undertaken impact assessments across numerous new businesses and existing producers to verify that their procedures are compliant and that they are achieving the recycling targets. Mark has represented numerous clients at Environment Agency audits under the WEEE and Packaging Regulations since 2005, helping the regulator to understand the business activities and how the obligations of the producer have been fully met. This has enabled clients to achieve positive audit results and gain reassurance that they have met their obligations.
Mark has also overseen major enforcement undertakings for non-compliant packaging producers, supporting them to become compliant and assisting in the successful approval of the Civil Sanction case by the Environment Agency’s review panel. This has involved evaluating liabilities, calculating avoided costs and additional fees payable for the enforcement undertaking and nominating suitable benefactors. Mark has expertise in helping clients through the bureaucracy of proactive and reactive enforcement undertakings and the process that is necessary to be successful and avoid complex and costly court cases.
Mark’s wider expertise includes developing new take-back systems with logistics operators and producers, allowing them to offset recycling obligations and provide rebates for waste product returns. He has worked closely with Defra, the Environment Agency, industry associations and recyclers to bring coherence, identify common goals, and achieve improvements to the producer responsibility system. This has included through roles as policy lead, industry representative and scheme representative for government working groups on aspects of the WEEE producer responsibility system.
 |
Ellen Struthers |
| Waste Service Operations and Material Recycling | |
| CONTACT ELLEN | |
- 18 years’ experience in the waste and resources sector in consulting and local authority waste management, including three years as a Deputy Head of Waste Management at a local authority.
- Expertise in waste collection, recycling, and markets for secondary materials.
- Provided independent opinion in a dispute resolution process between a local authority and its waste contractor relating to assessing the financial impacts of introducing a new waste service.
- Authored industry good practice guides, including on collecting food waste from NHS hospitals and undertaking recycling and food waste collections for flats.
- Wrote sampling and testing guidance for Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs) to support operators to comply with the relevant requirements in the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2014.
Ellen is a waste and recycling operations specialist with over 18 years’ experience in the sector. She is a recognised expert, having authored several industry good practice guides relating to operating effective recycling services, and has provided independent opinion in a dispute resolution process between a local authority and its waste contractor concerning the financial impacts of introducing a new waste service.
Ellen completed a three-year secondment to the London Borough of Tower Hamlets as its Deputy Head of Waste Management, with responsibility for the development and delivery of waste and recycling initiatives, giving her first-hand insight into municipal service provision. This has supported her in advising numerous private contractors on bidding for local authority waste, recycling and cleansing services, including developing operational method statements.
Ellen managed the development of the sampling and testing guidance for Materials Recovery Facilities (MRFs) to support operators to comply with the relevant requirements implemented by the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2014. She has also delivered projects that contributed to the evidence base for the Scottish Recycling Code of Practice and Charter, which involved identifying good practice in materials acceptance for different kerbside collection scenarios and service policies and standards.
Ellen has expertise in reviewing and advising on the impacts of regulatory change. This has included support to UK local authorities to help them assess the impact of the proposed introduction of a deposit return scheme and the reform of packaging producer responsibility. She has also supported a European packaging industry group to assess opportunities and risks posed by regulatory change, market factors and reprocessing developments to recommend actions.
 |
Marco Barlettani |
| Environmental Contamination and Impact Assessment | |
| CONTACT MARCO | |
- Registered engineer (Italy) with over 25 years’ experience in environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA), integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC), permitting, and project monitoring on behalf of lenders.
- Expert in two international arbitrations relating to the permitting of chemical facilities in Egypt and in criminal and civil cases relating to the causes and monetary value of environmental damage.
- Expert in air emission control and abatement, focusing on the power sector and combustion sources, with experience in air quality assessment, monitoring and dispersion modelling.
- International experience. Knowledge of European regulations, international standards (IFC, EBRD, World Bank and others) and expertise in interpreting and comparing national regulations.
Marco has over 25 years’ experience in environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA), integrated pollution prevention and control (IPPC) and preparation of BAT (Best Available Techniques) gap analyses, project monitoring on behalf of lenders, and permitting procedures. He has worked in a variety of industry sectors, including oil and gas, power generation, petrochemicals and chemicals, iron and steel, and waste management. Marco applies his industry knowledge as an expert witness in international arbitrations, civil and criminal cases concerning environmental contamination.
Marco was the nominated expert for environmental matters in two international arbitrations for two chemical facilities constructed in Egypt by Canadian companies (value of each investment c. $1bn). After construction, the environmental permit issued by government was challenged and the operations put at risk. Marco prepared technical documentation requested by the legal representatives, showing that the design and operation of the facilities complied with the national regulations.
In a criminal matter, Marco was appointed expert for the bankruptcy trustee of a company accused of contaminating soil with mercury and improper hazardous waste management in the industrial site of Brescia (Italy). He sought to determine the responsibilities of plant managers over 25 years and define the causes of contamination. In a related civil matter, he was instructed to define the monetary value of environmental damage caused by operations at three different industrial sites, including the largest PCB-polluted site in Europe. The damage was initially estimated by the authorities at over €2bn. The case is pending, with current expectations of the damage below €400m. Marco ensured consistency in the assumptions and approach adopted by experts nominated by the Court to assess damage related to different sites and financial aspects.
Marco is expert in air emission control and abatement, with specific focus on the power sector and combustion sources, addressing both macro (e.g., NOx, SOx, PM) and micro-pollutants (e.g., PCDD/ PCDF, heavy metals, PAH). He is experienced in air quality assessment, including design of air quality monitoring campaigns, often integrated to air dispersion modelling. He has collaborated with Universities (Italy and UK) to assess the performance of different dispersion models when applied to large emission sources.
 |
Dr Roberto Salvati |
| Contaminated Land and Environmental Due Diligence | |
| CONTACT ROBERTO | |
- Over 25 years’ international experience in environmental disciplines, with core expertise in groundwater resources, contaminated land, environmental due diligence, waste management, and environmental, health & safety compliance.
- Registered Geologist (Italy) with a PhD in Hydrogeology, University “La Sapienza”, Rome, Italy.
- Expert in litigation proceedings involving environmental contamination and waste management issues, with experience in administrative, civil, and criminal cases.
- Led the expert team in a case between a global company and Italian Ministry of the Environment concerning the adequacy of actions to contain and reduce the source of a groundwater contamination plume. The client won the appeal case.
- Widely published, having co-authored over 50 scientific publications on hydrogeology in Italy and overseas, former Adjunct Associate Professor in Hydrogeology, University of Akron (Ohio, USA).
Roberto has over 25 years of international scientific and technical experience in environmental disciplines. His expertise is in contaminated land and environmental due diligence (EDD), having led hundreds of Phase I & II EDD assessments, with emphasis on groundwater resources and contaminated land. He has conducted and managed projects at industrial sites, including in the petrochemical, pharmaceutical, mining, petroleum refineries, waste, and manufacturing (batteries, appliances, automotive, explosives, and metals) sectors. His experience involves soil and groundwater quality investigations and monitoring, remediation project design, and technical expertise in litigation proceedings involving contaminated land and waste management issues.
In an administrative case, Roberto led a technical team supporting a global company in a dispute with the Italian Ministry of the Environment. The Ministry claimed that emergency actions by the company to contain a contamination plume at a manufacturing site were insufficient and needed more extensive interventions. The company disputed this, stating the further remedial actions were unjustified and excessive. Roberto and the technical team used groundwater monitoring data to demonstrate that the emergency containment actions were appropriate to contain the plume and actively reduce the contamination source. As part of the appeal, Roberto assessed the “risk of remedy” intrinsic to the solution requested by the Ministry. The Client won the appeal.
Roberto was appointed as the expert in a criminal case against a pension fund concerning alleged waste mismanagement and abandonment, and resultant soil and surface water contamination. He led a technical team to reconstruct responsibilities, assess the extent and impact of contamination, and develop a cost estimate for disposal and clean-up. Roberto was also the nominated defence technical expert in proceedings concerning hazardous waste mismanagement and its impacts on surface and groundwater. He developed and executed an investigation, including sampling & analysis of waste stockpiles, soils, sediments, surface and groundwater and the analysis of soil and groundwater quality data. He prepared a remediation plan based on a Human Health Risk Assessment, which was approved by the administrative local authorities.
Roberto was also appointed in a civil case involving groundwater contamination at a chemical distribution warehouse site. Anthesis reviewed the appeal documentation and concluded that the appellant’s case did not prove the causal relationship between site activities and groundwater contamination beyond any reasonable doubt.
Contact us
We'd love to hear from you
Anthesis has offices in the U.S., Canada, UK, France, the Netherlands, Belgium, South Africa, Ireland, Italy, Germany, Sweden, Spain, Portugal, Andorra, Finland, Colombia, Brazil, China, Australia, Switzerland, Singapore, the Philippines and the Middle East.
