The new system of licensing regulations, is currently being finalised and are due to come into force from 1 July. They will introduce new costs for smaller composters treating between five and 400 tonnes to pay for being exempt from licensing.
A spokesman for Kent-based community composting group WyeCycle, said: “There are tens of thousands of such composting operations throughout the UK; park departments, cemeteries, landscape gardeners, etc. How is the Environment Agency going to locate all of these compost heaps? Are they going to employ heat seeking satellite systems?”
The Community Composting Network added that the changes will be 'tragic' for smaller composters, even threatening their livelihoods.
Light touch
The Agency has said it will adopt a lighter touch to regulating sites between five and 50 tonnes and that it will not “go out looking for other sites unless there is a specific complaint”.
WyeCycle has advised members to tell regulators that they will only pay their fee once they are shown a definitive list of every other compost heap in their area that is also being charged.
The spokesman said: “Any attempt to charge community groups just because their existence is known of, while ignoring any other activity, will leave the Environment Agency without a legal leg to stand on.”
The charge for community composting groups to register their exemption will be 242 in year one and 172 in each additional year for groups processing between 5 and 50 tonnes of material at any one time. For groups processing between 50 and 400 tonnes, the charge is 482 in year one and 402 in each additional year.
Registering for an exemption was free under the old system.
Disproportionate
The Composting Association expressed concern at the cost to composters at the smaller scale of the exemptions. Communications manager Tony Breton said: “Whilst we recognise that the Environment Agency needs to recover the costs associated with implementing and monitoring the new regulations, the 5-50 tonne fees are disproportionate.”
He added that while larger operations of 50-400 tonnes will be able to recover much of the costs in gate fees or sales revenues, this option is not available to “very small composting organisations whose primary aim is to provide a benefit to the community through composting.”
Mike Baker, waste process technical advisor for the Agency told letsrecycle.com: “We have about 2,500 sites registered for exemption at the moment. We won't go out looking for other sites unless there is a complaint about them.”
He added: “We already know where the majority of the larger ones are. There may be some near the five tonne mark we don't know about, but we believe we know about a large number of them.
“We will adopt a light touch to regulation five to 50 tonnes sites, unless there is a risk of pollution they are unlikely to be visited more than once a year when they reapply for their exemption.”
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