A NEWPORT company which breached waste regulations has had to donate money to charity in order to avoid civil action.

Clarks UK, the UK’s biggest supplier of maple syrup, contributed £2,800 to upgrade the lighting in the T? Hafan hospice in Sully, Barry.

The company opted to make the donation after environmental regulations concerning the amount of packaging waste sent to landfill were breached, instead of facing civil action.

An agreement between Clarks UK and National Resources Wales (NRW) was reached to determine the size of donation made by the Newport company.

“The offer was slightly different to ones we’ve had in the past as T? Hafan is not an environmental charity,” said John Davies, senior environment officer at NRW.

“But as the money was to be used for an energy-efficiency project the offer was accepted.”

Any Welsh business with a turnover in excess of £2million and more than over 50 tonnes of packaging waste must register with NRW or a compliance scheme which covers waste and recycling.

The Newport company registered with the NRW this year but admitted that it had overlooked the regulations in previous years, which contravenes the Producer Responsibility Obligations Regulation.

“Waste being sent to landfill, rather than being recycled, is a wasted resource and contributes to climate change and these regulations are there to stop that,” said Mr Davies.

“NRW have had the power to issue civil sanctions instead of prosecutions since its creation and situations such as like these are a great example of how it can be used to achieve the best outcome.”

As part of the case involving Clarks UK, the company will prove their continued compliance with the regulations in addition to registering with the packing producer.

With the company’s incorrect procedures in 2013 and 2014, Clarks UK is estimated to have saved £3,850 as a result of being over the packaging and threshold limits.

Under normal circumstances, breaches in regulation result in charitable donations to an organisation which is affected by the offence caused.

Businesses in Wales who are unsure if whether they need to register with NRW can check by contacting packaging@naturalresourceswales.gov.uk where advice is available.