Quality Protocols - tail wagging dog?
SOURCE: CIWM, DECEMBER 2007
The Environment Agency recently consulted on its latest Quality Protocol (QP) (for biodiesel manufactured from waste vegetable oil). But just what is the legal status of these QPs?
The answer is simple – none. The EA endorse them, saying that conformity with the QP allows manufacturers to show that their material is a product, and no longer a waste. But they are mere guidelines, not “law”. There is a danger of the EA losing sight of this fact. Some operators find the EA treating QPs as if they are the only way of recycling the particular waste streams, rather than considering each case on its merits and as assessed against the end-of-waste test set out in ECJ jurisprudence, as affirmed in the OSS case. The true test is whether the recovered material is comparable to the virgin equivalent and does it have an equivalent (or better) environmental impact?
Adherence to British Standards may be a useful indicator of comparability (if the same BS is used for both the recovered material and the virgin equivalent), but it’s far from conclusive and often irrelevant to the environmental impact “limb” of the end-of-waste test.
It is important that the EA do not slavishly apply the QPs in a manner that will stifle innovation in recycling processes and reduce the utility and value of waste as a resource.
AUTHOR: VINCENT BROWN
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