A record fine of £225,000 has this month been given to a Telford wine company guilty of packaging offences. Western Wines Limited pleaded guilty to nine charges under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations SI 2007/871, including not meeting recovery and recycling targets, non-registration with a packaging regulation body and failure to submit certificates of compliance in 2003, 2004 and 2005.
Telford Magistrates Court heard that in 2005 the Environment Agency had written to Western Wine asking them to complete a packaging regulations questionnaire. The company's reply indicated that they may have committed offences. Subsequently the company declined to attend a meeting with the Agency to discuss the matter. As a result of the non-compliance, the company avoided registration fees of £2,486 and recovery and recycling costs of £185,059. Their defence was they had overlooked their legal obligations during the last few years due to rapid changes in the business.
Speaking after the case, Agency investigation officer David Lloyd said, "The seriousness of this offence is shown by the large fine and the highest fine for any packaging offence. The aim of the Regulations is to make businesses take responsibility for the packaging used in their operations and to reduce the amount of packaging waste going to landfill." In mitigation, it was disclosed that the company has co-operated fully with the Agency and is now fully compliant with the legislation.
In other packaging waste news, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) have published new recovery targets for 2008 to 2011, raising the overall target to 72% for this year. Further details on these can be found at www.defra.gov.uk. Our summary of the current Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations SI 2007/871 is available on CEDREC Environmental.
