The London-based soft drinks importer pleaded guilty at Southwark Crown Court to charges of failing to register with the Environment Agency as a producer of packaging waste, and charges of failing to meet its requirements to recover and recycle packaging waste with respect to each of the eight years between 1999 and 2006, a total of 16 charges.
The company was fined £261,278 and was ordered to pay £3,755 in costs to the Environment Agency. The company was also ordered to pay compensation of £6,854 to the Environment Agency for unpaid registration fees for the years 1999 to 2006 inclusive. This overtakes the previous highest fine of £225,000, which was imposed in January 2008 on a Midlands company that also failed to register as a producer of packaging waste.
Under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007, businesses that have an annual turnover in excess of a specified amount (£2m since 2000) and handle more than 50 tonnes of packaging each year, must be registered with the Environment Agency or a compliance scheme.
Each year, obligated businesses must also provide evidence of payment for the recovery and recycling of packaging waste. Red Bull Company Limited approached the Environment Agency on 8 July 2007 to say that it wasn’t registered with the Environment Agency or a compliance scheme. The company cooperated with the Environment Agency and attended an interview under caution on 12 March 2008, admitting that its turnover and packaging handled was more than the threshold limits allowed by the regulations. By not registering, it was estimated that Red Bull made a saving of more than £180,000.
The regulations make businesses take responsibility for the packaging waste they produce by making them pay towards overall recovery and recycling costs. This should lead to a reduction in packaging, greater recycling and recovery, and a decrease in the amount of packaging that ends up in landfill sites.
Details of the regulations are available in trade journals, through trade organisations and online but, unfortunately, many businesses ignore this responsibility. The Environment Agency has a statutory duty to enforce these regulations, and regularly checks with companies that may be liable to comply with them to ensure they’re meeting their responsibilities under the legislation.
Environment officer Helen Pavlou said: “The regulations are in place to encourage a reduction in the amount of packaging used by business and to decrease the amount of waste that’s sent to landfill. While it’s encouraging that the Red Bull Company Ltd came to us when they realised their mistake, it’s disappointing that there are still companies that are not compliant with this important legislation more than a decade after it was passed.
“Money raised from compliance is invested in the recycling industry, so failure to comply by the Red Bull Company Ltd and other companies means that there’s less investment in the recycling industry than there should be.”
Source: Environment Agency
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024