Close Menu
News

Echlinville Distillery fined over packaging breach

Northern Ireland’s Echlinville Distillery has been fined £1,000 (US$1,200) for violating packaging waste regulations.

Echlinville Distillery
Echlinville Distillery in County Down produces the Dunville’s whiskey brand

According to Northern Ireland’s Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (Daera), the County Down-based distillery was taken to Newtownards Magistrates’ Court on 17 January 2025, where it pleaded guilty to two charges.

Kircubbin-based Echlinville Distillery, known for Dunville’s whiskey, violated the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007. The law obliges companies to recycle packaging waste to meet national targets.

The court found that Echlinville had failed to buy the required number of Packaging Recycling Notes (PRNs) by the 31 January 2023 deadline and did not submit a certificate of compliance for 2022.

PRNs are certificates that prove a company has reprocessed, exported, or recovered a specific amount of packaging waste.

The company was penalised £500 (US$609) for each charge and ordered to pay court costs.

The Northern Ireland Environment Agency, which is an agency within Daera, said it had contacted the distillery numerous times to remind them of the requirement to purchase PRNs in 2022.

However, the company failed to provide the appropriate recycling evidence for that year.

The Packaging Waste Regulations 2007 apply only to businesses with a minimum turnover of £2 million (US$2.4m), and with the ability to handle at least 50 tonnes of packaging in a calendar year.

This month, the UK government’s Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs introduced the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme after a one-year delay – a move that has prompted criticism from the drinks industry.

A spokesperson for Echlinville Distillery said: “The Echlinville Distillery is committed to sustainability and our obligation for recycling.

“We welcome the introduction of the Extended Producer Responsibility regulations and hope that this will also allow for a review of the PRN scheme to ensure transparency, fairness and equitably across all industry sectors. It is unfortunate that this matter ended up in court.”

Echlinville became the first field-to-glass distillery in Ireland, and the first new distillery in Northern Ireland for more than 125 years, when it began production in 2013.

The site makes Irish single malt, blended whiskey, gin, vodka and Poitín.

In 2023, Echlinville spent £5m (US$6.1m) on the restoration of a former maltings to enable it to produce local barley at scale.

The distillery previously invested more than £9m (US$11.7m) to expand its site and grow its brands globally.

Related news

The Design & Packaging Masters 2024 results

Emma Watson designs festive Renais packaging

Design expert: Reis Packaging Europe

It looks like you're in Asia, would you like to be redirected to the Drinks Business Asia edition?

Yes, take me to the Asia edition No