The Lear Corporation (UK) Ltd, of Gielgud Way, Cross Point Business Park, Lear Corporation (Nottingham) Limited of 20 Black Friars Lane, London and Lear Corporation UK Interior Systems Ltd, of 20 Black Friars Lane, London were fined a total of 96,000 with 2,050 costs at Coventry Magistrates Court.
Lear Corporation (UK) was charged with failing to register under the regulations for 1999; failing to take reasonable steps to recover and recycle waste in 1999; failing to supply the Environment Agency with a certificate showing compliance with the regulations for 1999; and for registering late with the a compliance scheme for the year 2000.
Ten charges were also brought against Lear Corporation UK Interior Systems. Three were brought for failure to register under the regulations for 1998, 1999 and 2000; three charges of failure to take reasonable steps to recover and recycle for those years; and three charges of failure to supply the Environment Agency with a certificate of compliance for the regulations during those three years. The company was also charged with registering late for the year 2001. The same ten charges were brought against the Lear Corporation (Nottingham).
The Agency said that in December 2000, it became clear that the Lear Corporation had failed to comply with the regulations and failed to register during the relevant years. The Environment Agency requested that the company supply it with information detailing the packaging it had handled since 1998 and its annual turnover. Although each company's turnover was over 2 million, the level which requires registration, the companies were unable to supply evidence of recycling and recovery and were unable to supply a certificate indicating compliance.
In mitigation, Michelle Brady, said that the companies apologised for not registering and are taking steps to obtain the documents which would show steps have been taken to recover and recycle waste. She also stated that this was not a deliberate avoidance of registration and reminded the court that the companies had entered an early guilty plea.
Speaking after the case, Simone Aplin, an Agency officer involved in the investigation, said: “Every year packaging amounts for over nine million tonnes of waste in this country, of which approximately 4.6 million tonnes in 2001 was recovered/recycled. It is essential that this figure is increased and the Producer Responsibility Obligations Regulations have been implemented to get companies to take responsibility for the amount of packaging they pass on to their customers.”
The Lear Corporation has now joined Onyxpak, Onyx's packaging compliance scheme, who will ensure that the company meets its future obligations by acquiring PRNs on its behalf.
Register for free to comment