Business

Dywidag Systems International, a supplier of geotechnical products, has been fined more than £16,000 after pleading guilty to 21 charges of non-compliance with packaging waste regulations.

The charges were brought by the Environment Agency after it discovered the company had not recycled any of the 50 tonnes of packaging waste it dealt with yearly between 2001 and 2007.

The Straford-upon-Avon-based company  was fined £9,000 and ordered to pay £1,366 costs, as well as £6,104 compensation.

Gerry Robbins, managing director of Dywidag, told The Courier: "The fact that we did not register with the Environment Agency before 2008 was because we were unaware of this requirement - as soon as we became aware we registered and co-operated fully.

"We feel much more could have been done by the authorities to inform companies of the need to register in the first place, particularly since the penalties are so great."

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.