Civil Sanctions
We have helped a number of businesses, found to be non-compliant with the Packaging Waste Regulations, to complete an Enforcement Undertaking
Civil sanctions were introduced in January 2011, which now means that the Environment Agency has more options available when dealing with organisations that are non-compliant with the Packaging Waste Regulations.
This is a positive change because organisations that are guilty of past non-compliance may not necessarily face criminal prosecution.
Currently, civil sanctions are only available to non-compliant organisations that are based in England, Wales and Scotland.
Please also note, to go down the civil sanctions route your organisation must have been non compliant with the Packaging Waste Regulations after 6 April 2010 in England and 15 July 2010 in Wales.
The Environment Agency will enforce civil sanctions in accordance with its Enforcement and Sanctions Policy (ESP). Under the new pEPR framework, this includes two key financial penalties: Fixed Monetary Penalties (FMPs) and Variable Monetary Penalties (VMPs).
- Variable Monetary Penalties (VMPs) may be issued for more serious breaches, such as late registration, failure to submit required data, or other significant non-compliance. The value of a VMP is determined by the severity of the offence and can reach up to £250,000.
- Fixed Monetary Penalties (FMPs) apply to lower-level offences and are set at a predefined amount.
Additional enforcement tools available to the Environment Agency include compliance notices, which require organisations to take specific corrective action, and enforcement undertakings, where an organisation may offer to fund an agreed environmental project as a form of redress.
In the most serious cases, criminal prosecution remains an option.
How Valpak can help
We can assist businesses with their Enforcement Undertaking Forms by:
- checking and/or submitting EU Offer Forms to the Environment Agency on a business’s behalf
- calculating the costs a business has avoided by not complying
- sourcing and suggesting suitable environmental projects for a business to fund
- helping to coordinate the funding of environmental projects
Make an enquiry
The area that stands out for me is the support and guidance that we receive from Valpak during the waste packaging submission process. Our packaging data submission includes a number of business sites; therefore, we appreciate Valpak's help to coordinate this. It gives me more time to concentrate on core business activities.