Distillery fined £1,000 for breach of Packaging Waste Regulations
Date published:
A Co Down company was fined a total of £1,000 at Newtownards Magistrates’ Court on 17 January for breaches of packaging waste legislation.
Echlinville Distillery Ltd of 62 Gransha Road, Kircubbin, County Down, pleaded guilty to the offences.
Echlinville Distillery Ltd pleaded guilty to two charges under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2007. Namely failure to purchase required number of Packaging Recycling Notes by the 31 January 2023 deadline and failure to submit a Certificate of Compliance in relation to the 2022 compliance year.
The company was fined £500 in respect of each charge and ordered to pay court costs.
The Northern Ireland Environment Agency contacted the company on numerous occasions reminding them they were required to purchase Packaging Recycling notes as a producer of packaging in 2022. The company failed to purchase the appropriate recycling evidence for that year. The company also failed to submit the required Certificate of Compliance to the Agency.
Notes to editors:
- In the UK, producer responsibility is an extension of the “polluter pays” principle. It aims to ensure that businesses who place products on the market take responsibility for those products once they have reached the end of their life.
- The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations are intended to encourage minimisation and re-use of packaging, reduce landfill disposal of packaging wastes, increase the recycling of packaging waste and support the development of the packaging waste recycling sector.
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