Waste Watch – December 2016

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:

Construction Waste

European Commission: EU construction & demolition waste management protocol: this guidance sets out a protocol for construction and demolition (C&D) waste management in order to increase confidence in the C&D waste management process and the trust in the quality of C&D recycled materials. It sets out eight principles actions that should be taken into account for implementing all components of the Protocol across the C&D waste management chain, to help contribute to reaching the Waste Framework Directive target of 70% of C&D waste being recycled by 2020, closing the loop of product lifecycles through greater recycling and re-use, and bring benefits for both the environment and the economy. (9 November 2016)

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Landfill

HMRC: Landfill Tax: definition of taxable disposal: policy paper on a new measure that will redefine a taxable disposal for Landfill Tax purposes so that any material disposed of at a landfill site will be taxable unless expressly exempt. Legislation will be introduced in the Finance Bill 2017 to amend s.40 of Finance Act 1996 so as to remove the waste criteria and the requirement for a disposal to be made by way of landfill. It will provide for exemptions to be set out in secondary legislation so that a charge to Landfill Tax does not arise on material currently outside the scope of the tax, including "materials that can be legally deposited outside of the landfill cell" and the drainage layer and pipes of a landfill cell. (5 December 2016)

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Packaging Waste

DEFRA: Packaging regulations – Consolidating the Packaging Waste Regulations: Summary of responses: reports on the outcome of the March 2016 consultation on proposals to consolidate the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007. It states that an expert group was set up to consider the comments and discuss the detail of the consolidation. However, it has not been able to meet a consensus in time for DEFRA to update the regulations with previously agreed new packaging targets. DEFRA has therefore decided not to proceed with the consolidation this year; it will review the situation next year. (15 December 2016)

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Permitting and Licensing

Environment Agency: Environmental Permitting Charging Scheme & guidance: updated guidance on charges for activities that require a permit (licence) or registration from the Environment Agency under environmental permitting regulations and other laws. It covers how much it costs for new permits, variations (changes), surrenders (cancel), transfers, deployments, registrations and renewals. The guidance has been updated to add flood risk activities (FRA) to the environmental permitting charging scheme. The new charges for FRA permits are effective from 4 January 2017. (15 December 2016)

Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 (SI 2016/1154): these regulations, which come into force on 1 January 2017, consolidate and replace the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 (SI 2010/675). The 2016 Regulations set out an environmental permitting and compliance regime that applies to various activities and industries. (11 December 2016)

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Procurement

WRAP: Textiles collections procurement guide: this guide aims to help local authorities and textiles collectors to introduce and operate effective and resilient collection arrangements that strike a balance between service costs and quality. It considers the issues and the options available individually, or as a partnership, in relation to the procurement of textiles collections for re-use or recycling. (December 2016)

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Recycling

Welsh Government: Wales increases its recycling lead over the rest of the UK: highlights new UK statistics which show that Welsh homes recycled 55.8% of their waste last year (2015). This compares to 43.9% in England, 42% in Northern Ireland and 42% in Scotland. (15 December 2016)

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Waste Collection

WRAP: Harmonised recycling collections costs project – Phase one: this research, commissioned by the Welsh Government, shows that switching to source separated recycling collections could save Welsh councils over £1m a year. The report compares source separated kerbside collections to co-mingled and two stream collections and finds that the former offers the most cost-effective approach to achieving high recycling rates. (7 December 2016)

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