A Buckinghamshire-based manufacturer have made a payment totalling nearly £21,000 to both the Environment Agency and local charity, the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust, after non-compliance with packaging waste regulations.

Hi-Tech Coatings International in Aylesbury failed to comply with Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007 (amended), a law designed to ensure companies contribute to the recycling of packaging waste produced through their activity in the UK market.

Noncompliance, through failure to register and undertake adequate steps to recycle packaging waste, resulted in the company avoiding the required payments to offset their obligation, calculated according to the amount of packaging they managed in the previous year.

The payment of £20,935.76 made to the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust will support the protection of local wildlife habitats and wetlands through the organisation's College Lake programme, located near Tring, Buckinghamshire.

This financial aid will contribute towards the maintenance of College Lake, preserving its safety and visitor appeal.

The funding will also benefit the Trust's education programmes for Key Stage 1 and 2 children, including sessions on bug hunting, bird watching, habitat surveys, the history and geology of the site, and environmental stewardship.

Jake Richardson, Senior Technical Officer at the Environment Agency, emphasised the importance of businesses adhering to environmental law: "Any company handling more than 50 tonnes of packaging a year, and with a turnover in excess of £2 million, must register with the Environment Agency or a packaging compliance scheme, and meet their responsibilities for recycling waste packaging.

"If companies fail to meet their obligations under environmental law, we will take action to ensure that they change their ways."

He also added that Hi-Tech Coatings Limited's prompt agreement to an Enforcement Undertaking offer, a form of Civil Sanction enabling businesses to demonstrate future commitment to legal compliance, was a positive step: "The company also agreed to take measures to ensure it complies with its packaging waste responsibilities in the future.

"We’re satisfied it won’t repeat its mistakes."

Such enforcement undertakings are sometimes used by the Environment Agency, depending on the situation, in line with its Enforcement and Sanctions Policy, but it does not hesitate to proceed to prosecution in cases demonstrating high culpability and serious environmental harm.

Members of the public are requested to report any pollution spotted to the Environment Agency through its toll-free 24-hour incident hotline: 0800 80 70 60.