The company was fined after an Environment Agency (EA) investigation found it had been unregistered as a packaging producer for 18 years. The company should have registered in 2004.
The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007 dictate that every obligated packaging producer must register as a packaging producer by 7 April 2024.
Budweiser claimed it was unaware of the regulations until the Agency investigation – which started two years ago.
£414,003.54 was paid by Budweiser to national environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy and will go towards the Great British Spring Clean campaign.
The total sum is comprised of the savings the company made by not recycling or recovering packaging waste, plus the EA’s cost and a penalty of 30%.
Budweiser fined because it ‘failed to comply’
The sum was paid as part of a reactive Enforcement Undertaking – a legal agreement between the Environment Agency and an offender as an alternative action to prosecution or other monetary penalties.
The EA’s Jake Richardson said: “It’s important that businesses take responsibility for the packaging that they place on the UK market. The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations ensure that businesses such as Budweiser Budvar UK contribute towards the cost of recycling the packaging that they add to the UK waste-stream.
“In this case, we investigated and found they had failed to comply with the regulations and had consequently not paid its rightful share towards the recycling of its packaging. When the company realised this, it wanted to do the right thing and so it submitted an Enforcement Undertaking offer, which ensured that all avoided recycling costs were donated to a project that will enhance, restore and protect England’s natural environment.
“Budweiser Budvar UK is now fully compliant with the Packaging Regulations and has put processes in place to ensure continued compliance in the future.
“Enforcement Undertakings, when appropriate, allow a better resolution for the environment than a prosecution and help offenders who are prepared to take responsibility for their actions to put things right voluntarily, in a way that directly benefits the environment and local communities.”
* The header image of this article has been updated. The original image featured the logo of the US-based Budweiser company, whereas the EA fine was given to Budweiser Budvar which is Czech.
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