EPA Prosecutes Adelphi Distributors Limited

On 12 September 2008 Adelphi Distributors Limited, Units 12 and 13, Waterford Airport Business Park, Killowen, Co. Waterford, pleaded guilty to charges brought by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in relation to four offences under the Waste Management (Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment) (WEEE) Regulations 2005.

At Waterford District Court Judge William Early heard the case and the company pleaded guilty to:

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

2.  Failing to declare the quantities, by weight or number of units, of electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) placed on the market.

Fines totalling €2,000 were imposed in relation to the four charges and costs of €8,250.25 were awarded to the EPA.

This prosecution followed several notifications issued by the EPA to the company and an inspection carried out in September 2007 by the Resource Use Unit of the Office of Climate Licensing and Resource Use, which informed the company of their obligations to register as a producer (they imported EEE on a professional basis into the State) and to report on the quantities of EEE (extractor fans) placed onto the market.

This is the EPA’s second prosecution of a company for failing to comply with their producer obligations under the WEEE regulations.