Environment

Carluccio's, the chain of Italian restaurants and food shops, has been fined £15,000 for breaches of the packaging waste regulations.

The company pleaded guilty to failing to register with the Environment Agency as a producer of packaging and failing to meet its requirements to recover and recycle packaging waste between 2004 and 2006.

It asked the court to take into consideration similar offences in 2002 and 2003.

The company joined the Paperpak compliance scheme on 12 February 2007.

It was calculated that the company had avoided costs of around £16,778 by not registering or purchasing the correct amount of packaging recovery notes as required by the regulation since 2002.

The company was fined £15,000 and additionally the company was ordered to pay to the Environment Agency compensation of £4,159. The magistrates also ordered the company to pay £2,400 in costs to the Environment Agency.

The nature of its business means that it handles a range of packaging, including; wine bottles, jars, cardboard boxes, bags, labels, pallets and shrink wrap.

Under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations, companies who have an annual turnover in excess of £2m and who handle in excess of 50 tonnes of packaging per annum must register with the Environment Agency or a compliance scheme.