Hazardous waste controls
New controls on Hazardous Waste came into force in England, Wales and Northern Ireland on July 16th, 2005. These replace the previous "Special Waste regime". In Scotland, "special waste" and "hazardous waste" have the same meaning.
A number of waste streams not previously considered to be hazardous, including televisions, computer monitors, fluorescent lighting and end-of-life vehicles are now classified as hazardous.
Since July 2005, most producers of hazardous waste in England and Wales have been required to notify their premises to the Environment Agency. Guidance on notification, including the on-line notification facility, can be found on the Environment Agency's hazardous waste pages. This registration requirement has replaced the need to pre-notify the Environment Agency of Special Waste movements.
In Northern Ireland and Scotland, there is no need to register, but pre-notification of Hazardous Waste movements are still required.
The Landfill Directive
The 2002 Landfill Directive has set tighter standards on wastes that can go to landfill. These standards are called waste acceptance criteria (WAC) and applied to hazardous waste from July 2005.
The WAC set leaching and other limit values that components of the waste stream must meet in order to be accepted at landfill sites. This is in addition to the ban on 'co-disposal' of Hazardous Waste and Non-Hazardous Waste in landfill sites since July 2004. There is a significant reduction in the number of hazardous waste sites available for landfill within the UK. Current Environment Agency lists of landfill sites and transfer stations in England and Wales accepting hazardous waste illustrate this reduction.
The Environment Agency has noted a reduction in the amount of hazardous waste going to landfill as a result of the Landfill Directive and as such, the legislative framework is driving greater waste minimisation and recovery. Latest figures report a 60% reduction in hazardous waste sent to landfill and a 64% increase in hazardous waste recycling.
What is hazardous waste?
Waste is hazardous when it contains properties that might make it harmful to our health or the environment.
The European Commission revised its list of hazardous waste and incorporated it into the European Waste Catalogue (EWC), which lists all wastes, grouped according to generic industry or process. Each waste type is allocated a six-digit code. Those that are hazardous are identified in the EWC with an asterisk (*). Some wastes are classed as hazardous outright known as absolute entries and are highlighted in red and marked with an "A".
Other wastes require separate assessment to determine whether they are hazardous or not, depending on the amount of dangerous substances present above threshold concentrations. These are known as mirror entries and are highlighted in blue and marked with an "M". Wastes not classified as hazardous are shown in black without any markings.
For guidance on how to use the EWC, please download Appendix A - Consolidated European Waste Catalogue (pdf) from the Environment Agency's what is hazardous waste section. This is part of technical guide 'WM2' produced by the UK Regulators.
How does this affect my company?
The inclusion of more wastes classified as "hazardous" could mean your company is a hazardous waste producer.
Any business already handling hazardous wastes should already be working with their waste contractor to dispose of them safely. You may have to pay more to dispose of your hazardous waste as your waste management contractor has to travel further to landfill and they may ask you to treat it before they collect it.
There are some differences in the legislation in each of the four countries of the UK. You can get guidance from your regulator; contact details are listed on the help and resources page.
Hazardous wastes need to be collected and disposed of separately. In England and Wales, you probably need to register with the Environment Agency. Your waste contractor may be able to do this for you.
As part of meeting the Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC), some wastes will need to be sampled, tested and described for your waste contractor - this is called 'characterisation' and ensures that the waste will be disposed of in the correct way.
Think about how to reduce the amount of waste your business creates - producing less will make life easier and could save you money.
What can I do?
Use the free help provided by Envirowise, such as publications or the Envirowise Advice Line to help you identify and deal with your hazardous waste. You may be able to have a free on-site visit (available in Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland) where a specialist advisor will spend a day at your site to identify and analyse avoidable hazardous wastes and find potential cost savings for your business.
Another option is to reduce the amount of hazardous materials in your products. Envirowise offers advice on how you can design out hazardous material. Where appropriate, a DesignTrack visit may be arranged (available in Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland) with a specialist design advisor focusing on reducing the whole life environmental impact of a specific product.
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