Tuesday 28 February 2017
Six businesses hit with £41k CRC fines
A total of six businesses have been fined more than £41,000 this year for breaching their carbon reduction commitments (CRC).
The CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme is a mandatory carbon emissions reduction initiative that applies to large organisations in the public and private sectors in the UK.
That includes supermarkets, water firms, banks, local authorities and all central government departments.
Among the latest businesses facing fines, 99p Stores and ALS Testing Services are the hardest hit, with penalties of £13,500 each.
Other organisations include the University of Hull (£6,150), Deluxe Laboratories (£5,000), Mansion Student Accommodation Fund (£2,580) and Aquaterra Leisure (£750).
The scheme requires participants to measure and report their electricity and gas supplies on an annual basis to the CRC registry, which calculates emissions in tonnes of CO2.
However, all the six firms failed to submit an annual report for the 2014/15 compliance year by the 31st July deadline, according to the Environment Agency.
A spokesperson for the Environment Agency told ELN: “Where a CRC non-compliance has been committed and the delivery of advice and guidance has not or will not achieve the necessary outcome, we will normally consider issuing some form of civil sanction such as a civil penalty.
“We aim to use civil sanctions in a manner that is appropriate and proportionate to the offence after considering all the circumstances.”
Organisations that were fined in November last year include Transport for London (£20,000), Champneys Henlow Limited (£10,000), The Planning Inspectorate (£2,850) and Flamingo Land Resort (£2,940).
The scheme will close following the 2018/19 compliance year, which means businesses will report under the CRC for the last time by the end of July 2019.
