Budweiser Budvar UK Ltd, a Bristol-based beer importer, has contributed more than £400,000 to a national environmental charity after failing to register as a packaging producer.
The company should have registered in 2004 under the Packaging Waste Regulations and taken steps to ensure that waste was recovered and recycled. However, an investigation by the Environment Agency two years ago found that the company had failed to comply with the regulation through, according to Budvar UK, ignorance.
The company has contributed over £400,000 to the Keep Britain Tidy program for its Great British Spring Clean campaign. This sum was paid as part of a Reactive Compliance Undertaking, a legal agreement between the Environment Agency and the “offender”.
The agreed payment included the amount the company saved by not recycling and recovering the packaging waste, plus a 30% penalty, plus the company has covered the costs of the Environment Agency.
