27/08/2009 - Recycling fee dodger Yeomans fined
An outdoor leisure store who avoided paying recycling and waste registration fees for 10 years has been ordered to pay £17,000.
Camping retailer W Leomans Ltd should have been registered with the Environment Agency (EA) since 1998 as it needed to recycle a portion of its packaging waste, which includes cardboard, paper, plastic, steel and wood. It was also obliged to file a confirmation certificate every year to show it met the requirements.
Chesterfield Magistrates' Court heard the company did not register until January 2008, but the EA received a phone call suggesting Yeomans was committing an offence and sent out an interview letter. The turnover and packaging details Yeomans provided showed it should have registered in January 1998.
The company pleaded guilty to nine offences in court last week and asked for a further 21 to be taken into consideration. Trevor Cooper, prosecuting, said Yeomans stated it came under new ownership in March 2008 and had no explanation for why it had not registered earlier. He said the company avoided paying £11,000 in fees and other costs by not registering.
The Deputy District Judge fined Yeomans £9,000 and ordered it to pay the EA £8,000 compensation and £1390.38 costs.
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