EPA Competes Successful Prosecution Under WEEE Regulations

Sino-EU Union International (Irl) trading as CI Electric Bikes, Unit E7, Centre Business Park, Oak Drive, Oak Road, Dublin 12, has pleaded guilty to charges brought by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in relation to ten offences under the Waste Management (Batteries and Accumulator) Regulations 2008 and three offences under the European Communities (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) (WEEE) Regulations 2011. At Dublin Metropolitan District Court, the company admitted breaching the Regulations by:

* Placing batteries and electrical and electronic equipment on the market at a time when the company was not registered as a producer of such equipment;

* Failing to apply to the producer registration body for registration or renewal of registration;

* Failing to declare the quantities, by weight or number of units, of batteries and electrical and electronic equipment placed on the market.

Fines totalling €1,300 and EPA costs totalling €2,000 were subsequently imposed on the company, which is now fully compliant.

Caitriona Collins of EPA comments: “This is the second prosecution taken by the EPA for breaches of the Batteries Regulations and follows extensive enforcement work carried on by the EPA since the regulations came into effect in September 2008. Both the WEEE and Battery Regulations are based on the principle of producer responsibility and it is therefore essential that those companies placing equipment and batteries on the Irish market are paying their fair share of the costs for ensuring those products are safely and properly recycled when they are discarded so that they do not harm the environment or human health.”

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