02/12/2014

This Update contains brief details of Government and EU publications, legislation, cases and other developments in England and Wales relevant to those interested in waste management, which have been published in the past month.

Items are set out by subject, with a link to where the full document can be found on the internet. All links are correct at the date of publication.

If you have been forwarded this update by a colleague and would like to receive it direct please email Claire Booth.

The following topics are covered in this update:

   Enforcement    Shipment of Waste
   Packaging Waste    Waste Classification
   Permitting and Licensing    Waste Management
   Procurement    Waste Minimisation

Enforcement

Environment Agency: Lincoln waste company director sentenced to prison: reports that Lincoln Crown Court has sentenced the sole director of a waste company to12 months' imprisonment, suspended for two years, and ordered him to do 200 hours unpaid work in the community, plus pay £16,094 costs, after he pleaded guilty to breaches of his environmental permit and planning conditions. Recorder Mr GRW Evans QC also disqualified him from being a company director for five years and issued a Regulation 44 order requiring him to produce a plan for how he is going to clear the site. The charges arose after inspectors found the site had 13 to 17 times as much waste as permitted with wastes also exceeding the permitted height limit. (25 November 2014)

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Packaging Waste

Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 (SI 2014/2890): these regulations, which come into force on 24 November 2014, amend SI 2007/871. They change the recycling and the recycling by re-melt targets for glass packaging waste for the years 2014-17 in light of new evidence about the glass packaging market. (3 November 2014)

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Permitting and Licensing

Environment Agency: Standard Rules consultation no.12 – New and revised standard rule sets: seeks views on a range of waste related activities and associated conditions for proposed new standard rules as well as revisions to existing standard rules. The proposals include:

  • a number of amendments to the rule set and risk assessment for asbestos waste transfer operations;
  • the introduction of a new Fire Prevention Plan requirement for those permitted sites allowed to store combustible waste material;
  • the expansion of household waste packaging codes for four rule sets covering civic amenity sites and metal recycling facilities;
  • the requirements derived from the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) which requires amending certain conditions in a range of existing rule sets;
  • a number of minor amendments to the rules and definitions (including some IED requirements) affecting six rules sets covering Metal Recycling, Vehicle Storage, Depollution, Dismantling and Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) waste related activities; and
  • a proposed new standard rule allowing metal recycling and WEEE treatment activities to take place at the same site.

The consultation closes on 6 March 2015. (28 November 2014)

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Procurement

Bevan Brittan byte size procurement updates: we have published another article in our "byte size" legal update series, in which we look at the new Public Sector Directive and deconstruct it into a topic based approach. For each topic we provide a brief explanation of the most relevant new and updated provisions in the new Directive. We also highlight some of the practical implications of those provisions.
The latest article is

We have also revised our Byte Size procurement updates, nos. 1 - 10, so that they now refer to the Draft Public Contracts Regulations 2015 as well as the Directive. We have also taken the opportunity to make some additional changes to Byte Size procurement update no.8 on Award criteria and lifecycle costing.

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Shipment of Waste

Commission Regulation 1234/2014 amending Regulation 1013/2006 on shipments of waste [2014] OJEU L332/15: this EU Regulation aims to help ensure more uniform implementation of the Waste Shipment Regulation 1013/2006, which lays down requirements for shipments of waste both within the EU and between the EU and third countries, in order to protect the environment. It establishes minimum inspection requirements throughout the EU with a focus on problematic waste streams. The Regulation applies directly in all Member States and comes into force on 3 December 2014. (19 November 2014) 

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Waste Classification

Environment Agency: Waste classification and assessment – Technical guidance WM3: seeks views on draft technical guidance on waste classification that incorporates legal changes to the List of Waste and Hazardous Waste criteria which are expected to apply from 1 June 2015. The consultation closes on 3 February 2015. (12 November 2014)

Environment Agency: IsItWaste tool user guide: the Agency has launched a self assessment tool to help organisations in England decide whether their material is likely to be a waste or not. It is based on the By-Products (Art.5) and End of Waste (Art.6) parts of the Waste Framework Directive 2008/98 (WFD).
There is also End-of-waste and by-product hazard and risk assessment guidance that outlines good practice and provides information for environmental and human health impact assessments for end of waste decision-making under the criteria established by the WFD. The guidance covers the main principles for conducting a risk assessment for a material under specified uses to determine whether it is likely to cause an unacceptable level of harm to the environment or human health. It is intended to be used in conjunction with the IsItWaste? tool. (26 November 2014) 

Environment Agency: Biodiesel – quality protocol: guidance on when waste derived biodiesel will be regarded as fully recovered and no longer subject to waste controls. (26 November 2014)

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Waste Management

DEFRA: Statistics on waste managed by local authorities in England in 2013-2014: information on the management of waste under the possession or control of the local authority. Results are displayed using the ‘Waste from Households’ measure on a calendar year basis; it also includes the slightly broader ‘Household Waste’ measure on a financial year basis. The figures show that:

  • the total tonnage of waste managed by local authorities in England was 25.6m tonnes in 2013/14 - up 2.3% on 2012/13 but down 9.1% on 2000/01 
  • disposal of local authority managed waste into landfill and incineration has fallen by 42% since 2000/01
  • local authority managed waste going for incineration with energy recovery rose by 13% to 6.2m tonnes in 2013/14 and has more than doubled since 2000/01
  • separately collected food waste accounts for a small proportion of the ‘waste from households’ but has increased from 1.3% to 2.9% of the ‘waste from households’ recycled between 2010 and 2013.

(18 November 2014)

Welsh Government: Local authority municipal waste management report for Wales, 2013-14: this bulletin presents information on local authority municipal waste collected and sent for disposal from household and non-household sources during the year, as well as information for previous years. The figures show that the percentage of local authority municipal waste (excluding abandoned vehicles) that was reused, recycled or composted in Wales has continued to increase since 2000-01, with 54.3% of waste reused, recycled or/ composted during 2013-14, under the new definition. During 2013-14, 18 of the 22 local authorities in Wales met or exceeded the statutory reuse/ recycling/composting target of 52%. (13 November 2014) 

WRAP: UK food waste – Historical changes and how amounts might be influenced in the future: this research report provides an assessment of how food waste levels have changed historically in the UK, and the potential impact of a range of ‘exogenous’ factors and interventions on food waste levels in the future. The report will inform discussions around the EC's recent Circular Economy package which includes a proposal for an aspirational objective of a 30% reduction in food waste by 2025, and also the development of a proposed successor agreement to the Courtauld Commitment. (27 November 2014)

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Waste Minimisation

WRAP: Round 2 – Innovation in Waste Prevention Fund: announces that Round 2 of the £800,000 fund is now open. This round encourages 'new in the world' projects that can demonstrate high levels of innovation, that haven’t been tried anywhere else. Projects must tackle Waste Prevention, not recycling or composting. In order to attract smaller scale projects there will also be a reduced match funding requirement for projects requesting between £5,000 and £10,000. The maximum amount of funding available per project remains at £50,000. (20 November 2014)

Council of the European Union: Use of plastic bags – Agreement on phasing down: announces that the Permanent Representatives Committee has reached agreement with the European Parliament on new EU-wide rules for a reduction in the consumption of plastic bags. The new measures target plastic bags with a wall thickness below 50 microns. Member states will have a choice between introducing mandatory reduction targets or charging schemes. They will also have to conduct public information and awareness campaigns highlighting the adverse environmental impact of excessive use of lightweight plastic bags. The European legislative porcedures should be completed by Spring 2015; member states will then have 18 months to incorporate the new rules into national legislation following their entry into force. (21 November 2014)

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