Waste Industry Update April 2008
Trash to cash - producing valuable products from biowaste
A draft Quality Protocol, setting out criteria for the production of quality outputs from anaerobic digestion of source segregated biowaste, has been released for consultation by the Waste Protocols Project, the joint endeavour between the Environment Agency and WRAP (Waste & Resource Action Programme).
As well as the obvious commercial benefits, it is claimed that the Quality Protocol will reduce the amount of organic waste consigned to landfill by simplifying the regulatory mechanism behind the conversion of biodegradable waste streams into valuable end products such as fertilizers and soil improvers.
The Quality Protocol aims to identify the point at which full waste recovery is attained and to instil confidence in end products which conform to approved standards.
Compliance with the criteria laid out in the Protocol is considered sufficient to ensure that recovered products may be used without causing harm to human health or the environment.
The Protocol states that outputs will be regarded as having ceased to be waste and no longer subject to waste management controls provided; they are produced using only certain source segregated input materials, meet the requirements of an approved standard and are destined for use in one of the designated market sectors of agriculture, forestry and land restoration.
Producers must also prove that criteria laid down in the Quality Protocol has been met by obtaining certification from an approved body and by retaining copies of customer supply documentation.
Mining industry to dig deep for waste management overhaul
The Scottish Government has launched a consultation on proposals aimed at transposing the European Mining Waste Directive (MWD) into Scots Law.
The scope of the MWD is vast encompassing planning, environmental and health and safety regimes. However, it is the Scottish Government’s view that, as many of the requirements of the MWD are already met through existing planning, environmental and health and safety provisions, the new requirements can be met by simply extending the existing planning and regulatory framework and where necessary, making adaptations aimed at minimising regulatory burden. In addition, as most of Scotland’s mining waste is likely to be inert, and the environmental threat small, the Government proposes to take advantage of all available derogations in the directive.
Although most of the requirements are dependent on the nature of the waste managed, all non exempted sites will be covered by the MWD to varying extents.
Under the implementing proposals put forward all sites producing extractive waste will be expected to produce waste management plans setting out procedures for the minimisation, treatment, recovery and disposal of extractive waste.
Operators of waste facilities will be required to obtain a permit, the issue of which will be subject to public participation, contain provisions on construction and management, closure and after care, pollution prevention and also, in some cases, a financial guarantee will be required. Facilities of permit holders will also be subject to monitoring and inspection by competent authorities.
The proposals also set out measures aimed at minimising the risk of major accidents. Where such risk exists, operators must adopt and apply a major-accident prevention policy for waste.
Responses to the consultation are invited by 7 July 2008. The consultation document will shortly be available via the following link:
http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Consultations/Current
Italy breaches landfill laws
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) found Italy in breach of EC law for inadequate transposition of the Landfill Directive.
The Court held that Italy had subjected landfills, authorised between July 2001 and March 2003, to national legislative provisions reserved for existing landfill sites and not to the stricter regime for new landfills required under the Landfill Directive.
The Court also held that transitional provisions laid down in national legislation did not comply with the Directive so far as it applied to landfills opened during the period from the date of expiry of the period for transposition of the Directive to the date of entry into force of the national implementing provisions.
Contractual confidentiality?
East Riding of Yorkshire Council has been ordered to disclose certain information contained within a contract signed between it and an independent waste management contractor.
The Council had refused to disclose the information on the grounds of the commercial confidentiality exemption to the Environmental Information Regulations 2004.
Highlighting the public interest in waste management issues, the Information Commissioner ruled that the public interest in disclosing certain information contained within the contract outweighed the public interest in maintaining the commercial confidentiality exemption.
The Commissioner ordered the Council to disclose:
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All pricing information except that relating to the specific costs and profits of the contractor;
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All operational information other than the names of preferred contractors;
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All information on emissions levels;
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All planning and development information except that relating to systems and technical information not otherwise in the public domain;
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The names and positions of individuals who were proposed to run particular facilities; and
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Descriptions of the intended methods of dealing with by products of the waste management process (but withholding information on the likely clawback of costs through the sale of these by products which aid in lowering the overall costs of the contractor.)
A way forward for waste?
Following the publication of a draft report on the proposed new Waste Framework Directive, by European Parliament’s Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, at the beginning of February this year, a vote on the second reading of the text was taken by the Committee at the beginning of this month.
Going against the grain of opinion within a number of national governments, the Environment Committee has voted in favour of establishing EU-wide waste prevention and recycling targets for 2020, paying particular attention to producers of industrial waste. Whilst recycling rates across the EU still remain relatively low, the Environment Committee wishes to see 50% of household waste and 70% of construction, demolition, industrial and manufacturing waste, recycled in the future.
As for recovery operations, the Committee voted in favour of the inclusion of efficient incineration operations as a waste recovery operation, something which struck a chord with the UK representation. Another change which has been welcomed by industry, is that the draft Directive no longer contains any references to by-products. And as to the one of the key areas of the draft Directive, the provisions regarding end-of-waste, the Commission has been asked that it should produce a legislative proposal setting out end-of-waste criteria within 2 years of the Directive’s entry into force.
As regards the next stage, agreement on the European Parliament’s second reading opinion has to be reached with the Council, but there are hopes that final agreement on the draft Directive can be reached by the Summer.
To track the latest developments on the draft Directive, go to the following link:
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/oeil/FindByProcnum.do?lang=2&procnum=COD/2005/0281
Waste - Is it or isn’t it?
The “CL:AIRE” advisory group on contaminated land has just gone out to consultation on a draft code of practice on the definition of waste, which may affect the way the regulators seek to interpret and apply the law in relation to end of waste status for excavated wastes.
The application of wastes to land, in particular the re-use of waste soils, has always been a controversial issue due to the lack of clarity surrounding the stage at which materials cease to be waste. Guidance currently exists, the EA Guidance booklet on “Definition of Waste: Developing greenfield and brownfield sites”, which makes it clear that most techniques used to produced a suitably engineered soil are not a waste management activity, and that it is possible to shift uncontaminated materials around on site (so long as they’re suitable and you definitely use them). The Guidance however is restricted to use on-site.
The draft COP recently issued by CL:AIRE intends to build upon the existing EA Guidance, taking into account policy changes which have occurred since its publication, and provide developers, contractors and others with a clear basis upon which to demonstrate to the EA that they are following best practice with respect to the use and reuse of materials.
The draft COP sets out what will be required to show that that something is not a waste or has ceased to be a waste, dealing with the three key principles in turn, those of suitability for use without further treatment, certainty of use and the quantity of material. It focuses in particular on the requirements in respect of excavated materials which are not waste in the first place and can therefore be used on the source site directly, and excavated materials which have been successfully treated such that they have been fully recovered and are no longer waste. The draft COP also looks at a number of re-use scenarios connected with the site of origin, cluster sites and specific soil treatment facilities. The means by which it can be demonstrated that good practice procedures have been followed, include the production of a Materials Management Plan (MMP) or the submission to the EA of a declaration from a Qualified Person.
The draft COP is restricted to only looking at the use of excavated materials on site with or without treatment, and the treatment of excavated materials at an authorised treatment facility. It does not deal with the status of unexcavated wastes which undergo treatment in-situ and we still don’t have any further clarification from the EA on their position regarding off-site reuse.
Whilst the COP will be used by the EA in their decision making processes once it is finalised following the outcome of consultation, it should be emphasised that this is merely another attempt at providing guidance on the issue and does not alter the law.
The consultation, which is open 15th May, can be accessed via the following link:-
http://www.claire.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=149&Itemid=28
Mafia's 'pizza' the action
Mozzarella may not have been allowed on your pizza for much longer following a food scare which arose in Italy last month, when higher than permitted levels of dioxins were discovered in Italian buffalo mozzarella cheese. Milk contamination found in buffalo herds in the Naples area of Italy was believed to have arisen as a result of toxic waste, illegally dumped on agricultural land.
However, having emerged relatively unscathed from the food scare, and the Italian Government having reassured the European Commission that the levels of contaminants in the mozzarella were not damaging to health, Italy now finds itself brought before the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for the wider problems of failing to deal with waste in this area. The Naples area of Italy has a chronic waste management problem, which to date has not been dealt with due to lucrative landfill business in this area of Italy being controlled by the regional mafia. However, following a ruling of the ECJ this week, Italy has been told that it has failed in its obligations under EU law to implement the requirements of the Landfill Directive, and it is likely that Italy will face further legal action in the future.
The recent case against Italy (Case C-442/06) can be found at the following link:
http://curia.europa.eu/
2008: A critical year for industrial waste operators
With 2008 shaping up to be another critical year in terms of new legislation that is emerging from Europe, an unpredictable and developing case law and a marked increase in enforcement, this is a critical year for those involved in a number of industrial sectors.
The latest in our series of Semple Fraser conferences therefore looks at the following issues affecting the waste industry:
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The 2008 Waste Framework Directive;
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The Extractive (Mining) Waste Directive which takes legal effect this year; and
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The threats facing industry from regulatory enforcement
Alongside our panel of experts from within the firm, the conference is chaired by Mr. John Crawford, Technical Adviser to Glasgow Caledonian University’s Environment Centre and Waste Management Consultant.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: VINCENT BROWN