Business

Lakes Bathrooms has been found guilty of six charges of non-compliance with the Producer Responsibility Obligation (Packaging Waste) Regulations.

The company was fined £2,000 and ordered to pay costs of £1,500, as well as £1,544 in compensation.

The Environment Agency contacted Cheltenham-based Lakes Bathrooms in November and wrote to the company in January advising it to register under the regulations.

The company registered in 2008, however, during an interview with the Environment Agency on the 21 February it admitted that it had not registered in 2006 or 2007.

It also had no evidence of recovering or recycling packaging waste and had not provided any agency with a certificate of compliance.

Lakes Bathrooms accepted that it should have been registered for each of the years when it handled more than 50 tonnes of packaging and had a turnover of more than £2m.

Hannah Wooldridge, an Environment Agency officer involved in the investigation, said: "Lakes Bathrooms fell foul of the regulations due to their rapid growth, and were unaware that the regulations applied to them by virtue of their growing turnover."

In mitigation, the company stated it was unaware and did not understand the regulations but had sought advice upon being contacted by the Environment Agency.

The Producer Responsibility (Packaging Waste) Regulations require businesses with an annual turnover of more than £2m that handle over 50 tonnes of packaging each year to register with a compliance programme.