Budweiser Budvar UK has paid more than £400,000 to a national environmental charity after failing to register as a producer of packaging.
An Environment Agency investigation discovered the beer importer had been an unregistered producer of packaging for 18 years.
It says the company should have registered in 2004 under regulations on packaging waste and taken steps to ensure the waste was recovered and recycled.
The investigation found that the company had failed to do so, and Budweiser Budvar claimed it was unaware of the regulations until the agency stepped in.
Following the investigation, the company has now contributed £414,003.54 to Keep Britain Tidy for use in their Great British Spring Clean campaign.
The sum was paid as part of a reactive enforcement undertaking – a legal agreement between the Environment Agency and an offender as an alternative action to prosecution or other monetary penalty.
The payment was agreed as the amount saved by the company in not recycling or recovering packaging waste, plus a penalty of 30%. In addition, the company has covered the Environment Agency’s costs.
Failure to comply with regulations
Jake Richardson of the Environment Agency said: “It’s important that businesses take responsibility for the packaging that they place on the UK market.”
He added: “In this case, we investigated and found it had failed to comply with the regulations and had consequently not paid its rightful share towards the recycling of its packaging.
“When the company realised this, it wanted to do the right thing and so it submitted an Enforcement Undertaking offer, which ensured that all avoided recycling costs were donated to a project that will enhance, restore and protect England’s natural environment.”
Budweiser Budvar UK is now fully compliant with the packaging regulations and has put processes in place to ensure continued compliance in the future, the agency added.
It said: “Enforcement undertakings, when appropriate, allow a better resolution for the environment than a prosecution and help offenders who are prepared to take responsibility for their actions to put things right voluntarily, in a way that, in some cases, directly benefits the environment and local communities.”
Civil Society has contacted Keep Britain Tidy, which most recently had an income of around £17m, for comment.
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