At the end of 2021, the following 13 packaging producers were found by the EA to have failed to have complied with their 2021 packaging regulations obligations:
- Amberdale Manufacturing Ltd
- British Engines (UK) Ltd
- Codex Solutions Ltd
- Fruitypot Ltd
- GRS Roadstone Group Ltd
- Marston Book Services Ltd
- Polyclear Ltd
- Kingsland Drinks Ltd
- Addo Food Group Ltd
- Bartoline Ltd
- Encirc Ltd
- United Industrial Converters Ltd
- Walkers Chocolates Ltd
Of these, the EA considered the following to be worthy of follow up enforcement action:
- Kingsland Drinks Ltd
- Encirc Ltd
- Addo Food Group Ltd
To date, there has been no report issued by the EA on what action has been taken on any of these three.
At the end of 2022, the following 9 packaging producers were found by the EA to have failed to have complied with their 2022 obligations:
- A & J Scott Ltd
- Euro Packaging UK Ltd
- Kingsland Drinks Ltd
- Poundstretcher Ltd
- Bartoline Ltd
- Codex Solutions Ltd
- Engineered Foam Products Ltd
- Olleco
- The Little Green Paint Company Ltd
To date, there has been no indication of what action will be taken against any of these businesses. In addition to these, the recently published EA Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement Activity report indicates that a further 18 failed to comply under other Agency monitoring.
The new EPR system requires producers to register data for the first 6 months of this year by the end of September and then by the end of each quarter following subsequent 6 month period. Whilst for £1-2m t/o and 25-50 tonne small producers, this is just about data gathering, for large producers, the amount of data reported will determine the ‘waste fee’ that producers of packaging around household items will have to pay to achieve the ~£1.2bn to be paid to Local Authorities in 2024. The fewer the companies registered and the smaller the amount of data registered, the greater the amount that will have to be paid by those that have registered and submitted their data.
The lack of enforcement action against those that have failed in their obligation in previous years rather waves a green flag at producers that nothing will happen if they don’t comply in future years, especially if they are seen to have failed to comply in multiple years.
Surely, if EPR is to work, a clear signal must be sent by all the Agencies and Defra that there will be significant, proportionate and meaningful penalties applied to businesses that choose to ignore their obligations going forward and surely, this should start with clarity of action taken against those that failed to comply in 2021 and 2022?