09/09/2005 - The Environment
Agency yesterday (Thursday 8 September 2005)
prosecuted a company that trades in Sidcup,
Kent for failing to comply with its recycling
obligations.
Maritime Sales Limited pleaded guilty to
the 4 offences before Bexley Magistrates Court.
The company was fined a total of £5,000
and ordered to pay £631.61 costs.
Under the Producer Responsibility (Packaging
Waste) Regulations, a company with an annual
turnover of over £2million and handling
more than 50 tonnes of packaging a year must
register with the Environment Agency or a
compliance scheme and provide details of how
much packaging it handles.
The Producer Responsibility (Packaging Waste)
Regulations seek to reduce the total amount
of waste that goes to landfill. Companies
obligated must recover and recycle a certain
amount of packaging waste and provide evidence
that it has been done.
The Environment Agency contacted Maritime
Sales Limited in May 2004 asking for details
of its financial turnover and amount of packaging
handled. No response was received and repeated
attempts were then made to get the relevant
information from the company. A formal notice
was then served but the company failed to
respond. Maritime Sales Limited was given
warning that, with appropriate action, it
could still comply with two of the three obligations
for 2004.
After receiving some of the requested information,
the company Director attended an interview
in January 2005. It was found that the company
was obligated by the regulations in 2004 but
had failed to comply. It was estimated that
by not registering or keeping recovery notes,
the company had avoided costs of £1,614.04.
Environment Officer, Stacey Setterfield,
said: The aim of these Regulations is to
ensure that, year on year, less packaging
goes into landfill sites. As landfill capacity
is stretched to the limit this is increasingly
important.
We made several attempts to contact Maritime
Sales Ltd, even urging that there was still
time to comply to the remaining obligations
for 2004, but it failed to respond. The company
has benefited financially by avoiding costs
that other compliant companies have to pay.
This is a message to businesses that they
cannot hide from their environmental responsibilities.
They must see these issues as a priority and
make sure they are meeting all of their legal
obligations.
In its defence, Maritime Sales Ltd accepted
it was guilty of not registering but said
that it was now compliant. It stated that
the business had changed in 2004 and it was
only then that it had gone over the threshold
of the regulations. The company had spoken
to 3 different schemes but the advice given
was complicated.
The Magistrates gave credit for the mitigation
and for the early guilty plea.
A company failing to comply with the Producer
Responsibility (Packaging Waste) Regulations
could face fines of up to £5,000 per
offence.
