Waste Industry Update September 2008
EA issues guidance on land treatment exemption
Following the introduction of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2007, which set out the circumstances in which a waste management license is required, or where certain activities are exempt from this requirement, the EA has now issued updated guidance on registering an exemption for land treatment.
The treatment of land for agricultural benefit or ecological improvement is exempt from the requirement to hold a waste management licence as is one of the activities listed in Schedule 3 to the Environmental Permitting Regulations (paragraph 7).
The EA must be notified and provided with certain information prior to undertaking the treatment of land with certain inert wastes as it is an offence to carry out a paragraph 7 exempt activity without being registered. Following receipt of the appropriate documentation, the EA will then decide whether they can register the activity as exempt, a process which usually takes up to 25 working day to complete. There is also a fee to be paid for the registration of a paragraph 7 exemption.
Form WMX7 now provides guidance on the exemption for land treatment, specifically how to complete the notification form, and what supporting documents need to be submitted with the application, in particular in respect of the certificate of agricultural benefit or ecological improvement, which is to be prepared by a person with appropriate technical expertise. The guidance also reminds users to read the declaration form on the notification form, and provides advise as to how the pollution risk assessment should be completed.
Once registered as an exempt activity, this will be valid for a period of 12 months, after which the registration will have to be renewed.
Procedures to be followed for packaging waste
The Environment Agency has this week issued guidance on the “who”s, “what”s and “why”s of making an application for Packaging Waste Recovery Notes (PRNs) and Packaging Waste Export Recovery Notes (PERNs).
The series of guidance notes cover the procedural requirements for the application of PRNs and PERNs as well as outlining the benefits of the scheme and the hoops that companies have to jump through in order to qualify.
The Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste Regulations) 2007 came into force on 19th July this year. These obligations, along with the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2005, require businesses dealing with recycling or recovering UK packaging waste and companies that export UK packaging waste for recovery or recycling, to demonstrate compliance with their recycling obligations through the attainment of a PRN or PERN.
The first document, “Accreditation of Reprocessors and Exporters of UK Packaging Waste: Guidance Notes” provides information on who is eligible to apply for accreditation, why they should be accredited and what they have to do to become accredited. The document also shows that several pieces of information must be submitted to the Environment Agency in order to complete the process. These include:
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the “reprocessor accreditation use form” or the “exporter accreditation use form” (as appropriate);
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a business plan;
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a sampling and inspection plan;
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evidence of meeting the “broadly equivalent” standards (for exporters only); and
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the application fee, which depends on the amount of packaging dealt with.
The guidance also outlines proceedings for companies with multiple applications and companies who are renewing their PRN or PERN.
The second document, “Briefing Note on New Arrangements for Accredited Exporters of UK Packaging Waste to Demonstrate ‘Broadly Equivalent’ Standards Overseas” outlines the reformed ways in which exporters can demonstrate compliance with their obligations under the Regulations. Under the amended Regulations, companies exporting UK packaging waste to countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD countries) are not required to give any supporting evidence that they meet the ‘broadly equivalent’ standards, making it much easier for these companies to obtain PERNs. For countries exporting to non-EU and non-OECD countries, a comprehensive list of criteria has been drawn up to allow these companies to easily obtain PERNs as well. The Agency has highlighted that this document is most likely to apply to companies exporting metal packaging waste.
Standard Permits set for a re-vamp
This month, the Environment Agency released new rules for obtaining standard environmental permits, which signal significant administrative changes in the waste industry.
The consultation for the new set of Standard Rules was issued on 22 August, providing relevant businesses the chance to review the generic risk assessments and standard rules and check that they are compatible with their industry.
The new rules relate to companies requiring to apply for a standard permit under section 12 of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2007, which does not allow certain facilities to operate without an environmental permit. Standard permits have one condition, being to comply with the standard rules published for the particular operation. The alternative is to apply for a more expensive, often less clear, bespoke permit, which requires site-specific risk evaluation. The standard permit on the other hand, aims to provide common industries, with a relatively low risk evaluation, with the option of applying for a cheaper permit. However, once fixed, the standard rules cannot be altered or appealed as applying for a standard permit in the first place is voluntary. New sets of rules have been produced for 8 different installations, and minor changes have been introduced to 2 further sets of rules.
The main change brought about by the rules is the revision of the tonnage bands. Previously, the standard rules were split into 3 tonnage bands: <5,000, <25,000 and <75,000 tonnes per annum. However, under the revised rules, there is only one band: <75,000 tonnes per annum, since it was felt that the same amount of resources were employed in order to check the compliance of installations in all 3 bands. Whilst this change is welcomed by larger plants, who will be able to deposit more waste under the new rules, a company that would previously have found itself in the <5,000 tonnes per annum category may now find itself having to pay a higher price for their permit than they would have in previous years.
Another significant change introduced is that clinical and healthcare waste treatment and transfer plants can now receive photochemical wastes such as x-ray scans under the new rules, which was not possible previously. The Environment Agency say they recognise that these wastes are often collected alongside other types of waste and that it has become impractical to refuse photochemicals at these sites.
Following a consultation period that will run until 14th November, the EA intend to introduce the new set of rules next year.
Profit to be made from lucrative contents of a landfill site?
With oil prices always on the up, and natural resources coming closer to their ‘natural’ end, the world is looking for new ways in which to fuel our lavish lifestyles.
Increasing concerns over the cost of oil and declining supplies across Libya, Russia and Saudi Arabia, have meant that industry is now looking to find alternative resources in order to fuel growing demands for raw materials. The latest solution now being suggested is to utilise existing waste stocks, currently buried deep underground within landfill sites. It is thought that historic landfills, full of plastic and other waste materials, could now be mined, in order for these materials to be recovered and recycled or even converted into liquid fuels.
Looking at our own country, it is estimated that the plethora of landfill sites could provide up to 200 million tonnes of waste plastic, which could then be made into new products or sold on as a valuable resource in itself, the price for high-quality plastics having risen significantly in recent years.
However, not everyone is enthusiastic about digging up our dumps to find valuable resources. Whilst disposal to landfill is very much in decline now due to changes in European legislation over the years, key players in the recycling markets would still prefer to see more being done to discourage ongoing disposal to landfill.
A conference on ‘Global Landfill Mining’, to be held in London on 9 October 2008, will provide a useful forum for the debate over the advantages and disadvantages of landfill mining, and will look at a number of issues including the legislative context within which landfill mining could be carried out.
The matters covered in this ebulletin are intended as a general overview and discussion of the subjects dealt with. They are not intended, and should not be used, as a substitute for taking legal advice in any specific situation. Semple Fraser LLP will accept no responsibility for any actions taken or not taken on the basis of this publication.
For further information please contact: Vincent Brown