Trade services specialist Swanline Print has donated almost £15,000 to a conservation charity after an investigation revealed the company was a decade late in conforming with packaging recovery laws.
The Staffordshire firm made a voluntary payment of £14,700 to Staffordshire Wildlife Trust as part of an Enforcement Undertaking offer to the Environment Agency.
A probe by the watchdog found that Swanline had become an obligated packaging producer in 2010 under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007.
However, the company failed to register as such until 2021, meaning it avoided compliance costs estimated at £14,659.99 including penalties.
Environment Agency senior technical officer Jake Richardson said: “Enforcement Undertakings allow businesses who fail to comply with legal requirements or pollute the environment to come into compliance or positively address and restore any harm caused to the environment and prevent repeat incidents.
“The Environment Agency is increasingly using this method of enforcement for less serious cases to restore and improve the environment, change behaviour and improve practices of the offender.”
The company has also paid the Environment Agency’s administration, investigation and legal costs.
Packaging laws require all businesses with a turnover of more than £2 million and handling 50 tonnes of relevant material to register, meet recycling thresholds, obtain evidence and submit certificates of compliance.
