Higher fines for breaches of packaging regulations

Users of packaging could be liable for unprecedented levels of fines for non-compliance with their obligations under the Producer Responsibility (Packaging Waste) Regulations, say lawyers.

According to Katherine Southby, head of the regulatory department at Leeds-based law firm Gordons, companies face "unlimited fines" as a result of prosecution by the Environment Agency (EA). These can also be retrospective, she warns.

She explains: "In the past, the court's view was that it could actually be profitable for a company not to comply. A clear message was then sent out to magistrates to say that fines should be more punitive."

Sums will be proportionate to the scale of the offence and the company's turnover. But January's record-breaking fine of £225,000, plus over £5,000 in costs and compensation, for importer Western Wines of Telford suggests a more aggressive policy. In this case, the sum paid out was over the amount that the company had avoided in compliance costs over several years.

Adrian Harding, policy adviser on producer responsibility at the EA, says: "We are likely to see 30 or 40 prosecutions a year, and there is no evidence to imply that it's got worse over the years."

But a spokesman for the EA adds: "We are continually working with magistrates and Crown Courts to ensure they understand the impacts of non-compliance."

Talking about Yorkshire, in particular, Southby at Gordons says: "I'm seeing a lot more of these prosecutions, but I'm not sure if this is because they are a soft target, or for other reasons."

Businesses with a turnover in excess of £2M, handling more than 50t of packaging a year, need to calculate their own obligations under the regulations and submit them to the EA. Alternatively, they can join a registered scheme. April 7 is the deadline for this, says Gordons.