United Kingdom
Contaminated Land
Details of grants made to 30 local authorities for the remediation of contaminated land have been announced. It is part of the on-going Supplementary Credit Approval (SCA) programme which seeks to help authorities identify contaminated land and to address the health risks associated with it. Local authorities were invited in February 2002 to bid for support for this financial year and these were assessed by the EA and DEFRA for their priority value.
(DEFRA News Release, 1 August 2002)
Recycling
Two new recycling projects worth £62 million have been announced. They are being funded through a Private Finance Initiative and involve upgrading of civic amenity sites, recovery facilities and composting facilities. The projects will involve several local authorities in two counties and after final checks and endorsement by the Project Review Group, the authorities concerned will invite private sector firms to bid for providing the services.
(DEFRA Press Release, 24 July 2002)
Fridges
An additional £40 million has been made available for local authorities in England to dispose of end of life fridges. It follows the £6 million made available in 2001 to deal with the backlog of waste fridges. This backlog is expected to begin to clear as more recycling plants are now operating. Five were operating in July 2002, another two came online in August and a further three are expected later this year. Since January 2002 discarded fridges have had to have the insulation foam removed before they can be recycled or disposed of to prevent the release of CFCs. There was also a meeting between local authorities, retailers and other stakeholders and agreement that retailer take back of fridges should be introduced. Details of a scheme should be announced in the near future.
(DEFRA Press Release, 18 July 2002)
Nuclear waste
A White Paper entitled ‘Managing the Nuclear Legacy – A Strategy for Action’ has been published by the DTI. It follows a Government announcement in November 2001 that it was considering a new approach towards the management of radioactive waste from civil and military nuclear programmes. The proposals include the creation of a new national body – the Liabilities Management Authority (LMA), which will have a remit to ensure the clean up is carried out safely and cost effectively. The proposals will involve transferring £43 billion of nuclear waste liabilities from British Nuclear Fuels and UK Atomic Energy Authority to the new strategic body.
(DTI, July 2002)
Waste management
The results of the 2000-2001 Municipal Waste Management Survey have been made available by DEFRA. National and regional statistics are provided on the collection, management and recycling of municipal waste by local authorities in England for the period 2000-2001. Among the findings of the survey was that the amount of municipal waste collected in 2000-2001 increased by 2.7% compared with 1999–2000, although there was a decrease in the proportion disposed of to landfill. Recovery, which included recycling, composting, or energy recovery accounted for 21% of municipal waste compared with 20% in 1999–2000. The proportion of household waste recycled, including composting, has increased steadily from 7% in 1996-1997 to 11% in 2000–2001. Landfill was the dominant waste management route in all regions, although there were significant variations in this proportion between different regions.
(DEFRA, August 2002)
Landfill
The EA has issued for consultation draft guidance on waste acceptance procedures. Under the Landfill Regulations (SI 2002 No 1559) the holder or operator of a site must be able to show that waste can be accepted according to the permit condition and waste acceptance criteria. Criteria are being developed at EU level but are unlikely to be implemented before July 2005. The purpose of the consultation therefore, is to provide interim guidance on procedures and criteria to be applied to landfill sites prior to this date. The guidance is also relevant to site operators in their permit applications and to waste carriers and producers. Comments are requested before 15 November 2002.
(EA, September 2002)
The EA has published a list of landfill conditioning plans it has received from landfill operators, required to comply with the Landfill Regulations. Operators of landfill sites which were operational and who intended to continue to accept waste after the 16 July 2002 deadline were required by the Regulations to submit a conditioning plan to the EA. The conditioning plan sets out how the operator intends to meet the requirements of the regulations. The published list includes landfill sites that have been formerly classified by the EA as able to accept hazardous waste. The EA is using the conditioning plans to draw up a list of when each site will be required to apply for a PPC permit, which will be issued up to 2007.
(EA, September 2002)
The EA has launched a consultation on replacing Part B of the PPC application pack with a Part B application form for the landfill sector. The revision is intended to provide a clear structure and methodology to assist landfill operators in making an application for a PPC permit. Responses are requested to a number of specific questions relating to permitting and re-permitting, to the need for guidance for loading rates for sludges, authorisation of hazardous waste landfills, Best Available Techniques (BAT) and charging. The EA is still considering how to apply the requirements of the Landfill Directive (1999/31/EC) to sites that are issued with new permits before co-disposal ends on 16 July 2004.
(EA, September 2002)
Packaging
The EA has released a statement announcing a policy change in how it enforces the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 1997 (SI 1997 No 648) following a recent court decision. The case revolved around the question of who should bear the ‘seller’ responsibility for recovering and recycling empty bottles in licensed premises. In deciding that the ‘seller’ responsibility should fall on the publican rather than the brewer, the court rejected the EA’s approach. Brewers will now only be considered as ‘packers/fillers’ when supplying bottled drinks to pubs, reducing their obligation to recycle to 37% for such supplies. The court’s decision has potential cost implications for larger businesses operating in the hospitality sector such as hotels, restaurants, cafes, pubs, clubs and bars. Although dealing with bottles sold in licensed premises, the decision could also have implications for sellers of other packaged goods as the EA has indicated it will extend the ruling to a range of other packaging types, such as that used for soaps and toiletries supplied in hotels. Newly obligated businesses must register either with the EA or with a registered compliance scheme by 31 December 2002.
(EA News Release, 12 September 2002)
Household waste
A report commissioned by the Environmental Services Training and Education Trust and carried out by Ernst & Young, has evaluated direct charging options for household waste. The report argues that by introducing direct charging to householders, awareness of the need to reduce waste would be increased and sufficient funding would be raised to deliver the municipal waste targets under the Landfill Directive. The Government is thought to be considering introducing direct charging of householders for management of their wastes. Such charges are likely to be dependent upon the amount of waste produced, and similar to variable charging schemes already in place in several EU countries.
(ESA, July 2002: The Guardian July 11 2002)
Landfill Tax Credit Scheme
DEFRA has published a summary of the responses to the consultation paper proposing changes to the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme published in April 2002. The consultation paper sought views on the future priorities for funding for the scheme as well as setting out options for the future. The consultation generated 700 responses. Respondents were generally in favour of the scheme, seeing it as very flexible and having the capacity to react to change the requirements. On the priorities for funding, the majority (62%) of respondents were in favour of using funds for encouraging sustainable waste management. On the issue of potential funding mechanisms and the design options, a large majority (82%) were in favour of keeping the existing scheme. It was generally agreed that the current scheme works well and has a strong local presence. A decision on the future of the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme is due to be made in the autumn 2002.
(DEFRA, September 2002)
Hazardous waste
The EA is inviting comment on a consultation paper proposing new technical guidance for classifying hazardous waste. The guidance is intended to apply to all legislation where reference is made to hazardous waste, including its production, management and control. The proposed guidance aims to clarify the criteria for determining the classification of hazardous wastes in accordance with the Hazardous Waste Directive (91/689/EEC). This Directive sets the framework to control the movement of hazardous waste in the EU throughout its life cycle. The new guidance also reviews relevant protocols and standards applying to the degree of hazard posed by a particular waste type, and aims to identify and develop a set of protocols which can be used by regulators and industry to make objective judgments on the interpretation of the hazard status of waste. Responses are requested before 17 December 2002.
(EA, September 2002)
European Union
Landfill
The European Commission has published a Proposal for a Decision establishing the criteria and procedures for the acceptance of waste at landfills according to Annex II of the Landfill Directive (1999/31/EC). The Directive makes provisions for distinguishing three classes of landfills based on the waste type accepted , i.e. hazardous, non-hazardous and inert. This proposed Decision lays down the procedures for characterising waste, checking compliance of the waste with the acceptance criteria and for on-site verification that the waste is as documented. In addition, it states the acceptance criteria for inert waste, for non-hazardous wastes landfilled together with stable non-reactive hazardous waste, for stable non-reactive hazardous waste accepted at landfills for non-hazardous waste, for hazardous waste and for underground storage. The Decision also lays down the test methods to be used. Under Article 176 of the Treaty, however, Member States may introduce more stringent protective measures than those proposed in the Decision. The draft Decision will now be submitted to the Council. If the Council does not act within three months from the date of referral of the proposal, the Commission will adopt it.
(COM(2002) 512, 20 September 2002)
Household waste
A report for the European Commission has recommended that there should be separate collection and treatment for household hazardous waste throughout the EU. The report concluded that each of the Member States have adopted their own definitions and controls for this waste type. In the study the term household hazardous waste is defined as ‘such wastes that could potentially increase the hazardous properties of municipal solid waste when landfilled, incinerated or composted’, although there is no standard definition for this term. The study focuses on the identification of hazardous chemicals rather than other hazardous waste that may originate from household, such as batteries and waste oils. Fourteen hazardous substances were identified as priority substances of concern. These included arsenic, lead, cadmium, chromium, copper, nickel, mercury and zinc. Products identified as being required to be taken out of the waste stream at source, included paints and varnishes, low energy and fluorescent light bulbs and garden pesticides. The report could lead the Commission to reconsider introducing legislation for separate collection of household waste. A previous move towards this was discontinued in favour of measures to tackle specific waste streams such as coils, batteries and electronic waste.
(European Commission, August 2002)
For further information please contact Paul Sheridan on +44 (0)20 7367 2186 or at paul.sheridan@cms-cmck.com
