Sportswear and accessory retailer Pro-Direct Group Ltd has made a payment to Devon Wildlife Trust of nearly £20,000 for nine years of failing two crucial packaging regulations.
The Environment Agency accepted an Enforcement Undertaking (EU) from the Newton Abbot-based firm for failure to register as a packaging producer. They also accepted it due to the firm not taking steps to recover and recycle its packaging waste under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007.
Pro-Direct Group Ltd has made a financial contribution of £19,906.21 to Devon Wildlife Trust and introduced new measures to make sure it is compliant by registering with a compliance scheme, training staff, and using a new weighing process. As Jake Richardson, Senior Technical Officer for the Environment Agency, said: “Enforcement Undertakings allow businesses to address historical non-compliance under the Packaging Regulations.
"A suitable environmental project benefits from a financial contribution and we are assured steps have been taken to ensure compliance with the regulations. But if we encounter producers deliberately taking advantage of the system, we will pursue other enforcement options in line with our Enforcement and Sanctions policy, which includes prosecution.”
Steve Hussey of Devon Wildlife Trust said: “We’ll be using this funding to support the work of our Wembury Marine Centre, near Plymouth. Each year the centre welcomes thousands of visitors along with dozens of school groups through its Wildlife Champions project.
“Each visitor gets to experience and learn about the rich marine environments that exist around our shores. Each person leaves with a better understanding of the marine creatures that live there and how they can help conserve them for the future.”
Packaging Regulations reduce the amount of packaging waste entering landfill sites by requiring obligated businesses (producers) to contribute financially towards the recovery and recycling of packaging waste.
For more stories from where you live, visit InYourArea.
