Jo Swinson MP has slammed the Government’s failure to inform companies of packaging waste responsibilities, as Red Bull and GHD face court fines.
Soft drinks company Red Bull was fined more than £270,000 in July for failing to meets its obligations under packaging laws aimed at reducing the amount of waste going into landfill. The Environment Agency estimated that the company had saved £180,000 by not meeting the obligations.
Jo Swinson MP: East Dunbartonshire
The company behind GHD hair care products was fined more than £9,600 in August for failing to meet the same obligations.
Both companies pleaded guilty to the charges, saying that they had been unaware of the legislation. Both companies reported it the Environment Agency when they realised their mistake. Packaging laws introduced in 1997 require large companies to register with a compliance scheme, to ensure that a specified amount of packaging is recovered or recycled each year.
Commenting, Jo Swinson said:
“Increasing recycling rates is vital to reducing our greenhouse gas emissions, and packaging regulations are an important way of doing that. While it’s right that these fines should be applied, how can we expect businesses to become compliant when they don’t even know these laws exist?
“If these big, high profile companies had no idea, how many other businesses must be out there who are unaware of their legal obligations?
“The Government simply must do more to make companies aware of packaging laws, or we will continue see cases where companies do not recycle enough because they don’t know it is a legal requirement.”
Notes:
More information on the prosecution of Red Bull can be found here:
www.environment-agency.gov.uk/news/109955.aspx
More information on the prosecution of Jemella, the company behind GHD hair products, can be found here:
www.environment-agency.gov.uk/news/110603.aspx?page=2
The offences Red Bull and Jemella admitted were committed contrary to the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 and 2005.
The regulations apply to companies which (1) manufacture or fill packaging, or sell or import packaged goods; (2) have an annual turnover exceeding £2 million; and (3) handle more than 50 tonnes of packaging per year.
The packaging regulations place an obligation on these businesses to recover and recycle specified tonnages of packaging waste each year. The amount each business has to recover is determined by three factors:
· the amount of packaging the business handles;
· the business recovery and recycling targets for the year;
· the activity the business carries out on packaging