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Waste regs double as hairdressing firm ordered to pay £30,000

A hairdressing supplies firm has become the first company to be prosecuted under both the packaging regulations and new electronics waste rules at the same time.

Birmingham-based Aston and Fincher was last Friday (3 September) ordered to pay more than £30,000 for failing to comply with the packaging regulations and the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directive.

The Environment Agency (EA) brought the 31 charges against the company, which related to offences between 2001 and 2008. The company pleaded guilty but said that it had not been aware of the regulations.

Aston and Fincher, the EA said, avoided paying around £10,900 by not signing up to the packaging regulations, while the sum was £445 for its failure to sign up for WEEE.

The company was fined £650 for each offence - a total of £20,150 – and was ordered to pay £7,135 to the EA for loss of registration fees, costs of £3605.11 and a victim surcharge of £15.

'We don't seek to criminalise'
Hannah Wooldridge, the EA officer leading in the investigation, said: "This is the first prosecution of a business for offences under both the packaging regulations and the similar producer responsibility legislation for electrical equipment.

"It should send a strong message out to all companies who do have producer responsibility obligations to ensure that they comply with the legal requirements placed on them.

"These regulations do not set out to criminalise companies who don't comply; they are about making all producers responsible for their impact on the environment, and helping them to reduce it wherever possible."

In mitigation, the company’s secretary, David Winnington, told the court that Aston and Fincher had not deliberately avoided the regulations but had been unaware of their existence.

Aston and Fincher pleaded guilty to the charges and is now fully compliant with both the packaging and WEEE regulations. The company was not available for further comment this morning (6 September).