Jane Nower - 24-Dec-2007
- A home furnishings based company in Upper
Rissington, Gloucestershire was ordered to
pay £18,464.40 at Gloucestershire Magistrates’
Court today for failing to recover and recycle
more than 320 tonnes of packaging waste.
On Friday 21 December 2007, the Cotswold
Company Ltd, of Bradford Road, Burley-in-Wharfdale
pleaded guilty to failing to register with
the Environment Agency as a producer of packaging
waste, and to failing to meet its requirements
to recover and recycle packaging waste for
2004 and 2005. Similar offences between 1999-2003
were taken into consideration by the Court
for sentencing.
The company - which supplies home furnishings
from shops, catalogues and via the internet
- was fined a total of £10,000 and ordered
to pay £2,378.40 in costs to the Environment
Agency. Magistrates also ordered compensation
of £6,086 to be paid to the Environment
Agency for avoided registration fees from
1999 - 2005.
Under the Producer Responsibility Obligations
(Packaging Waste) Regulations, all businesses
with an annual turnover in excess of £2
million that 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 a specified proportion of
packaging waste, including wood, aluminum,
steel, cardboard and plastic.
The Regulations are designed to ensure companies
assess the amount of packaging they use and,
where possible, limit their consumption. For
the packaging remaining, companies are expected
to invest in the recycling industry. Details
of the Regulations are available in trade
journals, through trade organisations and
online but unfortunately, many businesses
remain unaware of their responsibilities.
The Environment Agency wrote to The Cotswold
Company requesting details of their packaging
usage in January 2006, as part of normal checks
on companies. A reminder was sent on February
2006, but after no response was received a
notice was served on the company in April
of that year.
In a response in May, the company said its
annual turnover was £18m and the amount
of packaging handled as over 12 tonnes. However,
this amount only included packaging that was
purchased on the company’s behalf by a distribution
company, and not packaging already on the
goods. The company was visited by officers
in July 2006 to explain the regulations and
to assess whether the company did handle more
waste or not, and it was later asked to supply
further information about the amount of packaging
it handled by the 28 August.
The company sent a fax to the Environment
Agency on 1 September stating that it was
having trouble obtaining this information.
Following a warning sent on the 6 September,
the company eventually sent information stating
that it handled over 168 tonnes of packaging
on 28 September 2006. It then appeared that
the company might have been liable to have
been making contributions to a suitable compliance
scheme since 1997.
Environment Officer Sue Gebbels said: “The
money raised from compliance with this legislation
goes directly to the recycling industry and
the failure by this company to ensure they
met their responsibilities means that there
was less investment in the recycling industry
than there should have been.
"There is information available to businesses
to ensure they meet they environmental responsibility.
It is important companies take this responsibility
seriously to stop the tonnes of packaging
piling up in the UK’s limited landfill sites.”
The District Judge gave the company full
credit for an early plea but said the period
they had not been registered had to be taken
into account. The company has since registered
under the Regulations.
Ends
Notes for editors
The Producer Responsibility (Packaging Waste)
Regulations were originally implemented in
1997 as a result of the EU Packaging Directive.
Updated Regulations in 2005 and again 2007
replaced these.
The regulations are designed to make companies
assess the amount of packaging they use and,
where possible, limit the amount used. For
the packaging remaining, companies have a
responsibility to invest in the recycling
industry. The amount of recovery and recycling
is dependent on the type of activity the company
performs on the packaging and the tonnage
handled.
As the majority of companies are unable to
take back their packaging, a system was set
up whereby they purchase Packaging Recovery
Notes (PRNs) or Packaging Export Recovery
Notes (PERNs) to the value of their obligation.
The money from these PRNs/PERNs is used by
the reprocessors of the packaging to improve
the efficiency of their process, to expand
their facilities, and assist with the funding
of domestic recycling schemes, etc
