News story

Tiverton company pays £24,000 for not complying with regulations

Tiverton security company, Kaba Ltd, is to pay more than £24,000 to an environmental charity for failing to comply with packaging waste regulations.

  • Kaba Ltd had failed to register or comply with packaging waste regulations for 18 years.
  • They will give £24,100 to Devon Wildlife Trust through an Enforcement Undertaking.

The company is based on the Tiverton Business Park and specialises in the sale and distribution of security access systems. It is giving £24,100 to the Devon Wildlife Trust. The payment is being made through an Enforcement Undertaking. This is a legal agreement between an offender and the Environment Agency as an alternative to prosecution or a monetary penalty.

Devon Wildlife Trust project

Devon Wildlife Trust is using the money for the North Devon Natural Solutions project. This is supporting 360 farmers and landowners with workshops, webinars and practical training on how to use natural solutions to improve riverbanks, create new wildlife habitats, regenerate woodlands and create wild areas of land.

An investigation by the Environment Agency found that the company had failed to register under regulations on packaging waste or took steps to ensure their waste was recovered and recycled. The investigation found that the company had failed to register between 2001 and 2018.

The sum to be paid took into account how much the company had saved by failing to comply with the regulations, plus a penalty of a further ten per cent.

In addition, Kaba Ltd has agreed to adopt new procedures, including registering with a packaging compliance scheme and is paying the Environment Agency’s costs.

Emily Glendenning of the Environment Agency said:

“The company should have been well aware of their responsibilities over packaging waste. We won’t hesitate to take action where companies are not complying, but it’s good to see a local environmental charity will benefit.”

Our approach to enforcement undertakings

An enforcement undertaking is a voluntary offer made by an offender to:

  • put right the effects of their offending
  • put right the impact on third parties
  • make sure the offence cannot happen again

If we accept the offer it becomes a legally binding agreement between us and the business or person who makes the offer. We will only consider accepting an enforcement undertaking for cases where:

  • it is not in the public interest to prosecute
  • the offer itself addresses the cause and effect of the offending
  • the offer protects, restores or enhances the natural capital of England

Updates to this page

Published 20 August 2024