Red Bull fined record sum for packaging waste offences
August 3rd 2009
The Red Bull Company Limited was ordered to pay a record £271,800 on 27 July 2009 after failing to recover and recycle packaging waste.
The 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 sixteen charges.
The company was fined £261,278.00 and ordered it to pay £3755.00 in costs to the Environment Agency. The company was ordered to pay compensation of £6854.00 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 which have an annual turnover in excess of a specified amount (£2 million 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.
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.
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 is sent to landfill.
“While it is encouraging that the Red Bull Company Ltd came to us when they realised their mistake, it is 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 is less investment in the recycling industry than there should be.”