Re Mineral Resources Limited, Environment Agency v Stout (30 April 1998) High Court, Chancery Division

In this case, the court decided that a waste management licence could not be disclaimed as "onerous property" by a liquidator under Section 178 of the Insolvency Act 1986. The insolvent company held a waste management licence in respect of a landfill site in Hinxton. The liquidator, having decided that the licence was unsaleable, sought to disclaim it as "onerous property". The Environment Agency sought a declaration that the liquidator had no power to disclaim the licence on the basis that (a) it was not "property" within the meaning of the Insolvency Act 1986 and (b) even if it was "property", the power to disclaim would be excluded by the provisions of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 which provides that a waste management licence "shall continue in force" until revoked under Section 38 or surrendered under Section 39 of that Act. The judge decided that, because the Environmental Protection Act 1990 provides for the transfer of waste management licences and that there was a market in them, the waste management licence does constitute "property" within the meaning of the Insolvency Act 1986. However, he went on to state that the waste management licence could not be disclaimed for the following reasons: the Environmental Protection Act 1990 was enacted after Insolvency Act 1986 and therefore as a matter of construction its terms should be given preference over any conflicting terms in the earlier Act; contrary to the liquidator's submissions it would not be open to the Environment Agency to prove in the liquidation for any loss or damage it suffered as a result of any disclaimer under the Insolvency Act 1986 and thus this would not provide any remedy to the Environment Agency; and the benefit to the public of maintaining a healthy environment should take priority over the interests of the good administration of business and commerce under the Insolvency Act 1986.
(All England Law Reports, [1999] 1 All ER 746)