Firm is first to be prosecuted over breach of waste rules
Systems Video, based at Systems House in Palmerstown Business Park, pleaded guilty at Dublin Metropolitan District Court to five offences under the Waste Management (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) (WEEE) Regulations 2005.
During the case, which was brought by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) the company admitted breaching the regulations by:
* Placing electrical and electronic equipment on the market at a time when the company was not registered as a producer of such equipment.
* Failing to declare the quantities, by weight or number of units, of electrical and electronic equipment placed on the market.
* Failing to apply to the producer registration body for registration or renewal of registration.
Fines totalling €3,750 were imposed in relation to the five charges and costs of €17,133 were awarded to the EPA.
EPA programme manager Dr Gerry Byrne said: “While a number of successful prosecutions have been taken against electrical retailers in the past, this is the EPA’s first prosecution of a company for failing to comply with their producer obligations under the WEEE regulations. “This should send out a clear message to producers that failure to correctly register and to report on quantities of electrical/electronic equipment placed on the market will not be tolerated,” he said.
The WEEE directive was initiated because electrical and electronic equipment is made up of many different materials, some of which are hazardous. The regulations aim to prevent the generation of electrical and electronic waste and to promote reuse and recycling.
“Failure to comply with the requirements of the regulations has the potential to reduce the amount of waste electrical and electronic equipment that can be collected and diverted from landfill,” the EPA said.
