A packaging manufacturer has been fined a total of £52,278 for failing to contribute towards UK packaging recovery and recycling over a period of eight years. Avalon Packaging Ltd, which operates from Martland Mill Industrial Estate in Wigan, pleaded guilty to 15 offences under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations SI 1997/648. It has been estimated that the company, which manufactures plastic trays and lids, had saved themselves £44,471 by failing to pay for the recycling and recovery of waste.
Under the Regulations, the latest version of which are the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations SI 2007/871, companies like Avalon which handle more than 50 tonnes of packaging a year with a turnover of more than £2 million, must take a series of steps to reduce the amount of packaging waste going to landfill or incinerators. They must, for example, register with the Environment Agency or join an approved compliance scheme, pay for the recovery and recycling of specific tonnages of packaging waste and provide evidence that recovery and recycling has taken place.
The investigation into Avalon began last January, when the company contacted the Environment Agency to inform officials that they believed they had obligations under the Packaging Regulations. The company have since claimed that their actions were an oversight and not indicative of their commitment to environmental issues.
