Prosecutions hit firms failing to recover packaging waste

The warning came after a series of successful prosecutions by the Environment Agency this month under UK producer responsibility regulations. The regulations affect any company with a turnover of more than 2 million that handles more than 50 tonnes of packaging.

” It is disappointing to see that there are still companies out there who are oblivious to these regulations. “
– Mike Sargent, Environment Agency
Companies above the threshold size are obligated by the regulations to register with the Environment Agency. They must then purchase enough packaging waste recovery notes (PRNs) in order to pay for their share of meeting UK packaging recovery targets (see legislation section). They can also join compliance schemes, which buy PRNs on their behalf.

Eurilait
Somerset cheese company Eurilait was one company that did not carry out its legal obligation to pay for recycling. For its offence, Eurilait was fined 12,000 with 1,126 costs last week.

The company had claimed it fell under the 50 tonne threshold and was not covered by the regulations. However, a visit by Agency inspectors to the company at Evercreech, near Shepton Mallet, found that 426 tonnes of packaging waste was handled in 2002 alone.

Inspectors estimated that Eurilait had illegally avoided about 8,000 in costs from neglecting to pay for recycling from 1999 to 2002. The company has since registered with compliance scheme Wastepack to carry out its obligation.

Two other companies that have also received fines this week for not carrying out their packaging recovery obligations were catalogue firm Aid-Pack Systems Ltd and fruit importers Minor, Weir and Wills Ltd.

Aid-Pack
Aid-Pack, a packaging catalogue firm based in Bedfordshire, was fined 4,500 with 1,443 costs for three offences under the regulations. The firm's general manager, John Taylor, had told Agency officers that it was unsure whether or not its French parent company had registered or joined a compliance scheme.

Birmingham-based fruit exporters Minor, Weir & Willis Ltd were fined 2,700 with 968 costs by city magistrates. The offence related to a “clerical error” which meant the company had not registered in 2004, despite carrying out legal requirements from 2000 to 2003.

Environment team leader Mike Sargent said: “It is disappointing to see that there are still companies out there who are oblivious to these regulations. It is essential that managers of companies fulfil their environmental obligations.”