First prosecution of WEEE producer

06 SEPTEMBER 2010

Prosecutions of companies that have failed to register under the Packaging Regulations have become a common event, with the record so far being held by Red Bull who was fined £271k last year. But whilst there have been prosecutions for other WEEE offences, there have been no producer 'free-rider' prosecutions for WEEE.

That changed last week when hairdressing supplies wholesaler Aston and Fincher Ltd in Birmingham pleaded guilty to 31 charges relating to failure to comply with packaging waste regulations and failing to register as a producer of electrical and electronic waste.

The case led to the company having to pay over £30k in fines and costs, having avoided an estimated £10.9k in Packaging Regulations costs between 2001 and 2008 and 'unknown' costs relating to WEEE for 2008. This is particularly interesting as the report infers that the company registered in 2009 for both packaging and WEEE, so it has presumably taken 2 years for the case to get to court.

In mitigation, the company secretary said that it was not a deliberate intention to evade the regulations. The company was simply not aware of them. They are now fully compliant with both regulations and they pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity.

After the case, the EA stated that “Businesses have a responsibility for what happens to their waste and ignorance is no defence – it’s a company responsibility to ensure they are fully compliant with all legislation."