16/09/2005 - A cardboard
box producer failed to carry out its environmental
duty to recycle packaging waste and today
(Fri) was fined a total of £4,800 by
Bury St Edmunds Magistrates Court.
Derek Barrott Packaging Ltd of Bury St Edmunds
pleaded guilty to six charges under the Producer
Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste)
Regulations 1997 and was ordered to pay £1,039
costs to the Environment Agency. Each offence
carried a £800 fine.
The company buys in corrugated cardboard,
making boxes to supply to flatpack furniture
companies and carton merchants and had an
annual turnover of £2.79 million in
2002/3 and £2.13 million in 2003/4.
During that time it handled 2,252 tonnes
of packaging and 1,562 tonnes in 2002 and
2003 respectively.
Packaging regulations exist to make sure
that businesses with an annual turnover of
more than £2m and which handle more
than 50 tonnes of packaging per year, recover
and recycle a percentage of any packaging
they handle.
The aim is to achieve a more sustainable
approach to dealing with packaging materials
by ensuring that businesses take responsibility
for the packaging used in their operations
which, in turn, reduces the amount produced
and the material going into landfill.
Businesses are not required to physically
recover and recycle the packaging themselves
but they are required to register with either
the Environment Agency directly or join a
Compliance Scheme which registers with the
Agency on behalf of its members. The company
failed to do either.
It admitted three charges for each of two
years (2003 and 2004) under the Producer Responsibility
Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations
1997: (1)Failing to register; (2) Failing
to recover and recycle packaging waste; and
(3) Failing to certify that the requirements
had been met.
Managers of the company claimed they had
not registered or joined a compliance scheme
because they had been unaware of the regulations.
They did not need to do so in 2005 because
the annual turnover for the year before had
fallen below £2 million.
Different stages of the packaging stream
are supposed to recover and recycle varying
percentages of their packaging waste. As a
converter a business which makes cardboard
into boxes Derek Barrott Packaging should
have recovered and recycled the equivalent
of 9% of its packaging.
After the hearing Environment Officer Rachel
Jones said: It is disappointing to see that
there are still companies out there who are
oblivious to these regulations. It is essential
that managers of companies fulfil their environmental
obligations.
1. That you the defendant as a producer under
Regulation 3(2) of the Producer Responsibility
Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations
1997 for the year 2003 failed to register
by 7 April 2003 as required by Regulations
3(5)(a) and 5 of those Regulations
Contrary to Regulation 34(1)(a) and (5) of
the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging
Waste) Regulations 1997 and Section 95 of
the Environment Act 1995.
2. That you the defendant as a producer under
Regulation 3(2) of the Producer Responsibility
Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations
1997 for the year 2003 failed to take reasonable
steps to recover and recycle packaging waste
during the year ending 31 December 2003 (in
these Regulations referred to as the "recovery
and recycling obligations") in relation
to each of the classes of producer to which
the producer belongs, calculated as provided
in Schedule 2 as required by Regulation 3(5)(b)(i)
of those Regulations.
Contrary to Regulation 34(1)(b) and (5) of
the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging
Waste) Regulations 1997 and Section 95 of
the Environment Act 1995.
3. That you the defendant as a producer under
Regulation 3(2) of the Producer Responsibility
Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations
1997 for the year 2003 failed by 31 January
2004 to furnish a certificate of compliance
in respect of the recovery and recycling obligations
in accordance with Regulation 23 of those
Regulations
Contrary to Regulation 34(1)(c) and (5) of
the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging
Waste) Regulations 1997 and Section 95 of
the Environment Act 1995.
4. That you the defendant as a producer under
Regulation 3(2) of the Producer Responsibility
Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations
1997 for the year 2004 failed to register
by 7 April 2004 as required by Regulations
3(5)(a) and 5 of those Regulations
Contrary to Regulation 34(1)(a) and (5) of
the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging
Waste) Regulations 1997 and Section 95 of
the Environment Act 1995.
5. That you the defendant as a producer under
Regulation 3(2) of the Producer Responsibility
Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations
1997 for the year 2004 failed to take reasonable
steps to recover and recycle packaging waste
during the year ending 31 December 2004 (in
these Regulations referred to as the "recovery
and recycling obligations") in relation
to each of the classes of producer to which
the producer belongs, calculated as provided
in Schedule 2 as required by Regulation 3(5)(b)(i)
of those Regulations.
Contrary to Regulation 34(1)(b) and (5) of
the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging
Waste) Regulations 1997 and Section 95 of
the Environment Act 1995.
6. That you the defendant as a producer under
Regulation 3(2) of the Producer Responsibility
Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations
1997 for the year 2004 failed by 31 January
2005 to furnish a certificate of compliance
in respect of the recovery and recycling obligations
in accordance with Regulations 3(5)(b)(ii)
and 23 of those Regulations
Contrary to Regulation 34(1)(c) and (5) of
the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging
Waste) Regulations 1997 and Section 95 of
the Environment Act 1995.
Notes to Editors: Under the Producer Responsibility
Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations
1997, companies involved in the packaging
supply chain that are large enough to be above
the legal threshold must pay for their share
of UK packaging recovery and recycling.
These companies carry out their obligation
by registering with an environment agency
and purchasing sufficient packaging waste
recovery notes (PRNs) from accredited packaging
waste reprocessors to demonstrate they have
paid for enough recovery to meet their obligation.
