Shoe company MD hits out after £25,000 waste fine

THE managing director of a Yorkshire shoe retailer has hit out at the Environment Agency for “wasting” court time after being fined £25,000 for packaging waste offences.

Pavers pleaded guilty at York Magistrates’ Court to 12 offences between 2003 and 2007, and asked for a further three offences to be taken into consideration.

The York-based company should have been registered with the Environment Agency and was obliged to recover and recycle a portion of its packaging waste, as well as filing a certificate at the end of each year to confirm it had met these obligations.

However, Pavers did not register with the Environment Agency until 2008.

Stuart Paver, Pavers’ managing director, has called on the Environment Agency to notify companies which fall under the legislation that they need to register.

He said the first Pavers knew of the regulations was at a mail order conference and that it then subsequently registered.

However, the Environment Agency then prosecuted the company, which employs 100 people at its headquarters and has 88 shops in the UK and Ireland, for not registering earlier.

Mr Paver said: “The charges against us were that we were obliged to recover and recycle a portion of our packaging waste, as well as filing a certificate at the end of each year.  

“The Agency quite clearly states that the main aim of the agency is to go after ‘serious environmental criminals’. I believe we do not fall into this category whatsoever and unfortunately a lot of people’s time has been wasted.

“If the Environment Agency was to notify companies there would be many more companies paying these fees and not ending up wasting the courts’ time.”

Mr Paver said the company recycles 85% of its annual waste of 485 tonnes and takes the equivalent of 1,000 lorry loads off the roads every year and on to railways.

Nigel Hamilton, prosecuting counsel for the Environment Agency, said Pavers’ explanation for failing to comply with the packaging waste regulations was that it was “unaware” of their existence.

By failing to register, Mr Hamilton said Pavers had avoided fees and other costs of at least £17,000.

In addition to a fine of £20,000, York Magistrates ordered the company to pay compensation to the Environment Agency of £4,204  to cover the unpaid registration fees, as well as full prosecution costs of £1,615.70. Pavers also was ordered to pay a £15 victim surcharge.

The magistrates gave credit to Pavers for an early guilty plea and accepted its mitigation that the company had no previous convictions for environmental offences and these offences had not been committed intentionally for financial gain.