However, there has been concern among compliance specialists that there has still been no clarity as to the action taken against the seven producers who failed to comply in 2021. A further nine direct registrants also failed to comply in 2022, the report shows.
Compliance schemes have warned that some producers made a “conscious effort” not to comply in 2021 due to the high price of PRNs. At least three were thought to be from the glass industry where prices were consistently over £100.
The regulator says it will take action “in line with our enforcement and sanctions policy”. In certain cases, it will accept an enforcement undertaking offer where money is donated to charity.
However, there has so far not been a direct mention of what happened to the companies who didn’t comply in 2021, or the nine direct registrants from 2022.
In 2022 we concentrated on increasing the audits we performed for the other regimes
- Environment Agency
Report
The report was published yesterday (3 May) and provides a statement on the monitoring and successes during 2022 for the packaging regime.
During 2022, the Agency performed 47 audits on the 5,697 registered producers, four audits on the 21 compliance schemes and 176 audits on the 438 accredited sites.
This is nearly 10% lower than in previous years, as outlined below.
The Agency said this drop was down to the fact it “concentrated on increasing the audits we performed for the other regimes we regulate”, including WEEE and batteries.
The Agency also said last year was a “record for packaging audits”.
Reprocessors/Exporters
During 2022, of the 176 reprocessors or exports audited, there were 20 suspensions and four cancellations. This represents a 9% increase in suspensions and cancellations compared with 2021.
The Agency said this message was “communicated to the industry” in order to inform them of reduced PRN availability and also to “send a deterrent message on the consequences of non-compliance”.
The report said: “We estimate our efforts have prevented the non-compliant management of approximately 53,800 tonnes of packaging waste with an associated evidence (PRN and PERN) value of £10.4 million”. In 2021, the Agency estimated it disrupted 600,000 tonnes of waste, with an estimated PRN value of £11.5 million.”
Enforcement undertakings
In 2022 there were 16 enforcement undertakings totalling £309,000, compared with 28 totalling £519,461 the year before.
The largest enforcement undertakings in 2022, according to the report, were for:
- T I Midwood & Co Limited at just over £48,600
- Sazerac UK Limited at £45,000
- Softcat PLC at over £35,800
- NCR Limited at just over £35,300
Late registrants
Another issue for the PRN system is late registrants.
Targets for the amount of PRNs needed for the year are based on a percentage of what is placed on the market by producers the previous year.
Producers are obliged to submit this data by the following April and targets are calculated on the back of this. Producers only face a fine of around £110 for registering late.
After the registration deadline in April 2022, there were 591 businesses in England that failed to re-register, down from 771 in 2021.
The Agency said: “We worked alongside packaging producer compliance schemes to contact these businesses and bring them into compliance. As a result of this work 566 businesses either re-registered or were identified as no longer being obligated, 37 warning letters were issued to companies failing to register by the regulatory deadline and the remaining 25 businesses had a combined obligation in 2022 of 5,909 tonnes,” the Agency said.
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