Wine firm faces record fine for not recycling packaging

Western Wines Ltd of Telford has been referred to the Shrewsbury Crown Court for sentencing, after magistrates in Telford decided they did not have sufficient sentencing powers to deal with the case.

The company, which originally created the “Kumala” brand of South African wine, was the largest independent importer and distributor in the UK before being sold off to Canadian company Vincor International two years ago. With Vincor's acquisition by US firm Constellation Europe last year, Western Wines was closed down in October 2006 with operations moved to Constellation's UK headquarters in Guildford.

But with all the changes going on within the business, it appears that the company ignored its legal duty to pay for the recycling and recovery of packaging waste.

Guilty

At a hearing at Telford Magistrates' Court on October 22, representatives of Western Wines pleaded guilty to nine charges under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations.

By failing to pay for its share of reaching UK packaging waste recovery targets under the Regulations, Western Wines was found to have avoided paying out £185,059 in recovery and recycling costs, as well as £2,486 in registration fees.

Any fine set by the Crown Court is likely to take these avoided costs into account.

For the Environment Agency, Jill Robson told the court that in 2005 the Environment Agency wrote to Western Wine Limited asking them to fill out a questionnaire in regards to packaging regulations. The reply indicated that Western Wines Limited may have committed offences.

Western Wines were invited to an interview by the Environment Agency, but they declined to attend. The company provided a response confirming that they were not registered in 2003. 2004, and 2005, and did not submit any certificate of compliance with the regulations in those years.

In mitigation, the Agency said the current owners of Western Wines had co-operated fully with the investigation and were now fully compliant.

Action

Speaking after the hearing, David Lloyd, an Environment Agency officer involved in the investigation, said: “The aim of these regulations is to make businesses take responsibility for the packaging used in their operations and reduce the amount of packaging waste going to landfill. This is becoming increasingly important as landfill capacity is stretched to the limit.

“Businesses should take steps to ensure that they understand all aspects and requirements of the Regulations as we do not hesitate to take action against those who breach the legislation,” Mr Lloyd said.

The prosecution of Western Wines came just a few weeks after a London-based wine importer, Bibendum, was ordered to pay out more than £78,000 for its failures under the Producer Responsibility Regulations (see letsrecycle.com story).

Under the legislation, any company using more than 50 tonnes of packaging a year to sell its products must pay its share of meeting UK recovery targets set by Europe's Packaging Directive. Companies with less than a £2 million annual turnover are exempt, however. They do this by registering with the Environment Agency or by joining a compliance scheme, before paying for recycling by buying evidence notes – known as packaging waste recovery notes (PRNs) from companies that recycle packaging waste.

There have been more than 1,000 successful prosecutions of non-compliant companies in the UK since the Regulations came into force in 1997.

Typical fines for companies that do not register as producers are between £4,000 and £20,000, depending on the size of the company and the number of years they have not complied with the regulations.

The largest fine so far seen under the Producer Responsibility Regulations is believed to be in the region of £96,000, imposed on a group of companies in 2002.

• Drugs company Sanofi Pasteur MSD limited was ordered to pay nearly £18,000 by magistrates in Maidenhead for failing to recover and recycle over 679 tonnes of packaging waste under the Producer Responsibility Regulations between 1997 and 2006. It had avoided costs of around £15,970 by not registering and paying for the recycling of packaging waste under the legislation. The company was caught out during routine checks in January 2007, and has since signed up with compliance scheme Valpak to fulfill its recycling obligations.