- Environment Agency accepts Enforcement Undertaking from pet products company
- Company failed to comply with packaging regulations for 20 years from 1999 to 2019
- Local schools to benefit from fully funded trips to Shropshire Wildlife Trust base
The Shropshire-based company has made a financial contribution of £66,149.57 to the Shropshire Wildlife Trust after failing to comply with packaging waste regulations designed to protect the environment.
An investigation by the Environment Agency ended in Rosewood Pet Products of Queensway, Telford, making the payment under a proactive Enforcement Undertaking (EU) to the Shropshire Wildlife Trust.
Enforcement Undertaking
An EU is a voluntary offer made by companies and individuals to make amends for their offending. It usually includes a financial contribution to a charity to carry out environmental improvements.
Packaging regulations are designed to ensure that businesses fund the recycling of the waste they create.
The investigation revealed that the company became obligated for the regulations in 1999 but did not register until 2020.
By failing to register and to take reasonable steps to recover and recycle packaging waste, it was estimated that the business avoided fees and charges of £60,135.97 to which a 10% penalty element is added, totalling £66,149.57 to be paid to charity.
Companies become an ‘obligated’ packaging producer if they handled in excess of 50 tonnes of packaging materials in the previous calendar year and have a turnover of more than £2 million.
Shropshire Wildlife Trust
Shropshire Wildlife Trust are using the payments to offer 27 fully funded visits to their Wood Lane Nature Reserve for schools from the Telford area.
Another project will engage local teenagers and young people in Telford in using their local green spaces in a positive way through 5 weekend workshops each year for 3 years.
Jake Richardson, Senior Technical Officer for the Environment Agency, said:
“Protecting the environment and taking action against those that damage or threaten this is our utmost priority.
“While we will always prosecute in the most serious cases, Enforcement Undertakings are an effective enforcement tool to allow companies to put things right and contribute to environmental improvements.
“They enable businesses to become more compliant and prevent repeat offending by improving their procedures, helping ensure future compliance with environmental requirements.”
Ellie Larkham, Trust Education and Learning Manager for Shropshire Wildlife Trust, said:
“This funding will support Shropshire Wildlife Trust’s Education and Learning Team to bring schools to our Wood Lane nature reserve for an unforgettable trip.
“The schools will experience our one-day Secrets of Waste session, which includes looking at how well nature recycles on our nature reserve.
“There will also be a trailer ride provided by TG Group to visit the adjacent landfill site and materials recycling facility.
“Schools tell us that they struggle to fund off-site trips like this, particularly with the increasing cost of coach travel, but they are reluctant to pass on costs to parents.
“We want to ensure that this funding has a legacy, so it is really exciting to have the opportunity to work with a group of the most engaged schools to embed outdoor learning in their curriculum.
“The whole school community will be encouraged to take ownership of the green spaces around their school which can lead to improvements in the local environment for everyone.
“We will also run some taster session events to engage local teenagers and young people in Telford in using their local green spaces in a positive way.”
The last filed accounts show that the company had a turnover in excess of £37 million.
The offences impact upon the industry itself, as the company has been able to trade at a financial advantage compared to its competitors.
Since 2020, the company has been registered and compliant in each subsequent year with the Regulations.
What is an Enforcement Undertaking?
An Enforcement Undertaking is available to the Environment Agency (EA) as an alternative sanction to prosecution or monetary penalty for dealing with certain environmental offences.
It is a legally binding voluntary agreement proposed by a business (or an individual) when the EA has reasonable grounds to suspect that an environmental offence has occurred.
Enforcement Undertakings for environmental offences were introduced under the Environmental Civil Sanctions (England) Order 2010 and the Environmental Civil Sanctions (Miscellaneous Amendments) (England) Regulations 2010.
Accepting an Enforcement Undertaking is always at the discretion of the EA.
But if accepted enables firms and individuals who have damaged the environment or operated outside of legislative requirements to offer to complete actions which will address the cause and effect of their offending, including making a payment to an appropriate project.
EUs can be offered for offences including polluting rivers, breaching permit conditions designed to protect communities, or failing to register and comply with recycling/recovery obligations. The Environment Agency then carefully considers whether the actions offered by the offender are acceptable.
Why use Enforcement Undertakings?
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Businesses will voluntarily secure compliance now and in the future, without attracting a criminal record.
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The environment, local community and those directly impacted by the offending can benefit through actions being offered in an EU.
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They allow the EA to deal with the less intentional and polluting offending in a more proportionate way than prosecution through the criminal courts.
The Environment Agency reserves the right to prosecute, where offenders fail to comply with the terms of an Enforcement Undertaking offer.
