A LEIGH company was fined a total of £3,600 for failing to comply with regulations designed to reduce the amount of packaging material that goes to waste.

As well as being fined, the firm was ordered to pay costs of £887.98 to the Environment Agency, which brought the prosecution.

W L Corbett Limited of Bedford Square, Leigh, manufacturers of paper-based packaging products such as take-away food boxes, pleaded guilty to two offences under the Producer Responsibility Regulations 1997.

David Bradley, prosecuting for the Agency, told magistrates at Wigan how the company, which had an annual turnover of about £7 million, had saved around £4,500 by not complying with the regulations during 2000.

The regulations implement a European Directive which sets targets for the recovery and recycling of packaging waste. The aim of the Directive is to promote recovery and recycling of packaging waste and thereby reduce the amount going to waste -- such as landfill.

Under the regulations, companies handling significant amounts of packaging with a sufficient turnover, such as W L Corbett Limited, must first register with the Environment Agency. They must then either arrange themselves to have certain amounts of packaging waste recycled and recovered each year, or join a registered scheme to do it on their behalf.

Mr Bradley told magistrates that the company failed to either register with the Agency in 2000 or to make adequate arrangements for the recovery or recycling of packaging waste.

The offences came to light after an Environment Agency officer made checks on the company.