Government focuses on targets and landfill

The change of Government in May 2015 has seen a refocusing of activity and policy regarding waste management.

In January, the Coalition Government replied to criticisms from the Commons Environment, Food & Rural Affairs Committee about DEFRA's role and responsibility for waste management policy and its priorities regarding waste. DEFRA denied that it had ‘stepped back’ from all waste and resource management policy, but instead it had refocused activities in areas that only Government can and must do.

It confirmed that it was committed to achieving 50% recycling of household waste by 2020 but believed that local authorities should lead on determining the most appropriate recycling arrangements for their area, taking into account local circumstances, and there were no plans to reintroduce statutory recycling targets for local authorities.

While DEFRA was keeping a low profile, the Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles continued to take an active interest in waste. Local authorities were faced with "punishments" for trying to encourage recycling by reducing the frequency of waste collection whilst at the same time see swingeing cuts in their waste budgets.

Since Greg Clark took over at DCLG, the Government's preoccupation with weekly waste collection seems to have waned; instead, the Government is concentrating its activities on meeting recycling targets and reducing landfill.   

We set out below some of the key legislative developments relating to waste management in the past year.

Charging for household waste

In April 2015, the Government introduced two new measures to stymie some local authorities' plans to charge users of household waste recycling centres (HWRCs) by reclassifying them as ‘discretionary’ so they fell outside requirements of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

The Local Government (Prohibition of Charges at Household Waste Recycling Centres) (England) Order 2015 (SI 2015/619) disapplies s.93(1) of the Local Government Act 2003, which enables local authorities to charge for discretionary services, so they cannot use this as the legislation permitting them to charge for use of ‘discretionary’ HWRCs.

Alongside this, the Local Authorities (Prohibition of Charging Residents to Deposit Household Waste) Order 2015 (SI 2015/973) prohibits local authorities from using their General Power of Competence under s.1 of the Localism Act 2011 to charge their residents to enter into or exit from HWRCs, or to deposit household waste or recycling at such centres. (26 March 2015)

Waste reduction - Plastic bags

Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland have already introduced a charge for customers on single use carrier bags. England followed suit in October 2015, and this appears to already have a big impact!

The Single Use Carrier Bags Charges (England) Order 2015 (SI 2015/776) requires retailers with 250 or more employees to charge a minimum amount of 5p for unused single use (lightweight) plastic bags used for taking goods out of shops or for delivering them. The charge is to be enforced by local authority trading standards officers, with two types of civil sanctions: Fixed Monetary Penalties or Discretionary Requirements. They also have duties to publish reports and guidance about enforcement action . The Order ceases to have effect on 5 October 2022.

Duty of Care

The Waste Duty of Care under s.34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 requires those dealing with certain kinds of waste to take all reasonable steps to keep it safe. It applies to anyone who is a holder of household, industrial and commercial waste. In September 2015 DEFRA issued a draft revised Waste Duty of Care Code of Practice for consultation. It has been revised to reflect a number of important legislative changes relating to the duty of care since its publication in 1996. The consultation closed on 21 September 2015.

Enforcement

In February, DEFRA issued a consultation on Waste crime with proposals to enhance enforcement powers for the regulators and local authorities to help them tackle entrenched non-compliance at sites permitted to handle waste. It also asked for evidence on a range of measures to tackle waste crime and persistent poor performance in the waste management industry.

DEFRA published the outcome of the consultation in October 2015. Its plans include:

• clarifying the regulators' existing enforcement powers, including power to suspend permits and power to apply for an injunction to enforce compliance with an enforcement notice;
• introducing Fixed Penalty Notices for fly-tipping in England; and
• further consultation on the principle of an ‘operator competence test’ that would apply to all types of regulated activity carried out under an environmental permit.

However, it will not take forward plans for a national scheme to fund the clean-up of abandoned or orphaned waste management sites; instead, it will look at ways to reduce the opportunity for abandonment and make sure that operators have made sufficient financial provision to meet the obligations associated with their permits and the cost of site clearance and remediation.

The Control of Waste (Dealing with Seized Property) (England and Wales) Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/426) establish the procedures which a waste collection authority, the Environment Agency and Natural Resources Wales must follow once they have seized a vehicle and/or its contents because of suspected involvement in offences concerning the transport or disposal of waste (such as fly-tipping). The aim of the regulations is to help reduce illegal waste activity, including fly-tipping, by giving enforcement authorities more effective tools to use in the investigation and prosecution of suspected offences.

The Household Waste (Fixed Penalty and Penalty Charge) Regulations 2015 (SI 2015/969), which come into force on 15 June 2015, set the levels of the monetary penalty that waste collection authorities and London borough councils can impose on any person who fails to comply with a requirement related to the collection of household waste where that failure causes a nuisance or is detrimental to any amenities of the locality.

Bevan Brittan produces a monthly alert Waste Watch for those in municipal waste and waste management sector, with brief details of legislative and policy developments in England and Wales and links to the source materials. If you would like to subscribe, please click here.

This article was written for Materials Recycling World.