Three UK companies are paying a total of almost £87,000 to charities after failing to comply with packaging waste regulations designed to protect the environment.

Softcat, an IT infrastructure and services provider based in Marlow, is paying more than £35,000 to the National Trust for not complying with the law for more than a decade while Hampton Wick-based drinks giant Sazerac UK Limited will contribute more than £45,000 to Surrey Wildlife Trust for failing to comply from 2017 to 2019.

In addition, home furniture brand La-Z-Boy UK, based in Maidenhead, will give more than £5,700 to Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust for non-compliance in 2020.

According to the Environment Agency, all three companies recognised they had failed to comply with the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007, which ensure businesses fund the recycling of the packaging waste they place on the UK market.

They avoided paying a charge by failing to register with a compliance scheme and take reasonable steps to recover and recycle packaging waste.

The Environment Agency accepted proactive enforcement undertaking offers from all three companies, a type of civil sanction which allows businesses to make amends while demonstrating how they will comply with the law in future.

Jake Richardson, Environment Agency Senior Technical Officer said: “Any company handling more than 50 tonnes of packaging a year and with a turnover of above £2 million must register with the Environment Agency or a packaging compliance scheme and meet their responsibilities for recycling waste packaging.

“If companies fail to meet their obligations under environmental law, we will take action to ensure that they change their ways.”