MIDLANDS, United Kingdom — A wholesaler of hairdressing supplies has become the first company found guilty of violating a U.K. electronics waste law. The company, Aston and Fincher, also violated the country's packaging regulations.

The government's Environment Agency charged that Aston and Fincher did not register as a company that handles packaging under the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations and did not follow Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive's regulations it was obliged to follow since it imports and distributed electrical items.

Both laws are centered on the concept of producer responsibility, which makes the companies that produce and handle products responsible for proper disposal and recycling, by either directly handling them or funding recycling programs.

By not complying with the packaging laws, Aston and Fincher avoided paying £10,900 ($16,800), and by not registering under the electronics law, it avoided paying £445 ($688). Aston and Fincher said the violations were not intentional, but that it was not aware of the laws. 

The company pled guilty to a total of 31 charges related to offenses from 2001 to 2008 and will pay around £30,900 ($47,800) in fines, compensation for loss of registration fees, costs and a victim surcharge.

"These regulations do not set out to criminalize companies who don't comply," Environment Agency officer Hannah Wooldridge said in a statement. "They are about making all producers responsible for their impact on the environment and helping them to reduce it wherever possible."

The packaging waste regulations require any company that handles packaging as a manufacturer, pack filler, seller, importer or leaser to register each year and show that they have recycled packaging.

The WEEE law came into effect in 2007, and this is the first case of a company being prosecuted under it. The WEEE regulations require distributors of electronic items to set up a product take-back program and provide customers with various information such as how to properly dispose of electronic items.

_{Drying hair at salon - CC license by Flickr user bradleypjohnson}