On 7 November, the Environment Agency published a list of the enforcement undertakings it accepted in the third quarter of the year for regulation breaches.
In one of the larger donations, hazardous waste company Augean South Limited paid £25,000 to Rockingham Forest Trust, a charity which promotes environmental projects in Northamptonshire, following the contamination of groundwater at its site, the Agency says.
Augean, of Stamford Road, Kings Cliffe, Northamptonshire, also paid £11,059 to cover the costs of the Agency’s investigation.
Routine inspections in March 2020 detected high levels of chemicals in the groundwater adjacent to the treatment centre at Augean’s East Northants Resource Management Facility, the Agency says.
The discharge had a “short-term impact” on wildlife and saw some amphibian species decline, the Agency says, but “populations recovered by the following summer”. Vegetation was also said to have improved “naturally” after the pollution.
The Agency was satisfied Augean took “appropriate action” to resolve the situation and accepted an enforcement undertaking.
Permitting
Like Augean, Newcastle-based skip hire company ARMO Skip Hire Limited breached permitting regulations, the Environment Agency says, and paid enforcement undertakings in recompense.
The Agency says ARMO Skip Hire’s offence relates to the “unauthorised and excessive” storage of waste at its permitted site at Blaydon, Gateshead, between October 2019 and March 2021.
ARMO Skip Hire will reduce and remove the waste and return to compliance, install and improve site drainage and cover the Agency’s costs.
They will also contribute enforcement undertakings totalling £2,600 to food poverty charity Feeding Families and £2,600 to climate change awareness group Transition West Gateshead.
Packaging
Several companies paid enforcement undertakings for breaching packaging waste regulations, either by failing to register or to take reasonable steps to recover and recycle packaging waste. These companies donated £190,884.18 to charity.
Electronics wholesale supplier Unielectronics Limited failed to comply for registration years 2014 to 2017 inclusive and will contribute £5,060 to The Birmingham Botanical and Horticultural Society. Office solutions supplier G&Z Trading Limited, who failed to comply in 2017, will pay the same charity £1,000.
Trade blinds retailer Green & Brown Limited failed to comply between 2014 and 2020 and will contribute £17,500 to Canal & River Trust, while artisanal spirits business Marussia Beverages UK Limited failed to comply between 2012 and 2018 and will donate £26,807.26 to Keep Britain Tidy.
Construction product supplier T I Midwood & Co Limited breached regulations between 2000 and 2018 and will contribute £48,628.48 to The National Forest.
Furniture company La-Z-Boy UK Limited will contribute £5,736.89 to Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust for failing to comply in 2020.
For breaching regulations between 2016 and 2019, industry minerals firm Imerys PCC UK Limited will contribute £5,259.07 to Cheshire Wildlife Trust, while alcohol brand Sazerac UK Limited failed to comply between 2017 and 2019 and will pay Surrey Wildlife Trust £45,088.49.
And, IT infrastructure provider Softcat PLC will donate £35,803.99 to The National Trust for breaching regulations between 2007 and 2020.
Compensation
Enforcement undertakings are used as part of the Environment Agency’s sanctions process for breaches of regulations.
When found to be in breach of regulations – often by not signing up to a packaging waste compliance scheme – a company proposes improvements to its operations and makes an offer to the Environment Agency as compensation.
The undertakings scheme allows businesses to avoid possible court action and instead make voluntary donations if they have breached, or appear likely to have breached, environmental regulations. These donations go to various charities chosen by those who do not uphold the obligations.
Some within the waste sector have expressed concerns that money paid for recycling breaches goes to charities which, while good causes, are not relevant to recycling.
The Agency says it does not control which charity receives the money, but several offers it has accepted have included payments to raise awareness in schools of the environmental damage caused by packaging waste (see letsrecycle.com story).
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