Red Bull hit with record 270k packaging waste fine

The London-based soft drinks importer pleaded guilty to failing to comply with requirements to recover and recycle packaging waste over an eight-year period from 1999 to 2006.

Southwark Magistrates Court fined the firm £261,278 and ordered it to pay the Environment Agency (EA) £3,755 and £6,854 in costs and compensation on Monday (27 July).

The fine exceeds the previous record fine of £225,000, handed to Telford wine merchant Western Wines in January 2008.

Red Bull told the EA in July 2007 that it had not registered with a packaging compliance scheme. It cooperated with the organisation and was interviewed under caution last year. The EA estimates the firm had saved more than £180,000 by not registering.

Environment officer Helen Pavlou said: “While it is encouraging that Red Bull Company came to us when they realised their mistake, it is disappointing that there are still companies that are not compliant with the legislation more than a decade after it was passed.”

A Red Bull spokesman said: “Red Bull takes its responsibility to the environment very seriously hence our decision to bring this issue to the attention of the authorities and our full cooperation with all legal proceedings. Moving forward, we are now well placed to fulfil our Producer Responsibilities Obligations.”

News of the record fine came just two days after Welsh stone tile supplier Mandarin Slate urged the EA to launch a mass campaign to raise awareness of the regulations after it was fined £10,000.

Adrian Harding, Producer Responsibility Policy Advisor at the Environment Agency, said in a statement to Packaging News: “During the early years we worked very closely with key trade bodies and business support organisations to make people aware of the regulations and what they needed to do.
 
“We continue to provide guidance through NetRegs, the network of Producer Compliance Schemes, and contact with trade bodies.”

Under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations, all businesses with an annual turnover in excess of £2m and which handle more than 50 tonnes of packaging per annum must be registered with the EA or a recognised compliance scheme.

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