SITA Metal Recycling, a Norfolk based company, has become the first company to be prosecuted for breaching the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations SI 2006/3289 (the WEEE Regulations), more than two and a half years after the legislation first came into effect.
The company pleaded guilty to four offences in relation to errors made when issuing WEEE recycling evidence between July 2007 and December 2008. The first of which related to WEEE treated by the company which was subsequently exported through a non-approved exporter - contrary to the WEEE Regulations. The three other offences involved the company logging evidence notes in March 2009 for treating WEEE that was received prior to SITA Metal Recycling being an approved authorised treatment facility. This resulted in the company again breaching the WEEE Regulations, with it not securing approval to issue evidence until April 2008.
The prosecution told the court that the offences and errors made by SITA, which came to light during an audit carried out by an officer from the Environment Agency's Norwich office, "showed a lack of management focus". In mitigation it was claimed the errors were a genuine mistake and had occurred during a period of management change. Furthermore, the company did not benefit commercially from their actions and there was no direct impact on the environment.
A spokeswoman for SITA said, "SITA UK was taken to court by the Environment Agency for four charges with respect to breaches to WEEE Regulations. Apart from minor administration oversights, we had complied with our interpretation of the legislation, which the Agency challenged in court. The fine imposed by the Judge was very low, reflecting the courts view of the breach. Nonetheless, we have worked with the Agency and our teams to better understand the Regulations and adhere by all administrative points in the future".
SITA Metal Recycling was ordered to pay £4,000 in fines and a further £4,456 in costs.
