Bahlsen LLP, which imports a number of biscuit products and other foods, should have reported the tonnages to the Environment Agency under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations from 1997 until 2012.
During that time, the Agency states that the company had an ‘unfair financial advantage’ against its registered competitors and caused it to lose revenue that would have been used for compliance monitoring and regulation.
By not being registered under the regulations, businesses may have saved money by not having to buy PRNs – packaging waste recovery notes. However, this can often be the case if businesses are unaware of the rules particularly if they grow above the 50 tonnes per year threshold for eligibility under the regulations.
The company has now identified it should have registered as a packaging producer through due diligence procedures, and has improved its operating procedures to prevent further breaches.
In mitigation, Bahlsen has offered an Enforcement Undertaking totalling £39,800 to the Wildlife Trust and Woodland Trust – which exceeds the costs which it would have paid had it originally registered in 1997.
‘Proactive’
Sanjiv Syal, environment officer for the Environment Agency said Bahlsen had submitted a proactive offer, which means the company voluntarily came to the Agency to report the breaches when the problem was identified.
He said: “This self-reporting means the company benefits from a deduction in the penalty which could have applied had the investigation gone to court, and allows the financial recompense to go to good environmental causes.”
He added: “The use of Civil Sanctions, where appropriate, can offer benefits to the environment and the wider world by using resources wisely and allowing the company to get back into compliance whilst still accepting financial responsibility for its breaches.
“We would encourage any other operators who may be eligible to offer an EU to get in touch, before our investigations identify non-compliance and we seek a larger penalty. Bahlsen was fully cooperative throughout the investigation. The company is keen to do the right thing and be fully compliant with packaging regulations in the future.”
Between September 2014 and April 2015, businesses that failed to comply with the Packaging Waste Regulations paid more than £189,000 to charities in order to avoid legal action from the Environment Agency.
The largest individual fee paid out during that round of enforcement undertakings totalled £59,405 – and was paid out by Chilli Marketing Brand Management Ltd, the global distributor of Rekorderlig Cider, to the Woodland Trust (see letsrecycle.com story).
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