All MRFs handling municipal waste in Scotland will have to measure the quality of their outputs from 2014 under new proposalsfromthe Scottish Government.
A consultationwas launched on Friday (October 5) on a Recyclate Quality Action Plan which proposes a range of actions to improve and maintain the quality of recyclables collected, sorted andsold in Scotland.The consultation comes ahead of a separate consultation on quality in England, expected in the next few weeks.
Key to the Scottish Governments proposals is a plan to introduce regulations requiring compliance with a MRF Code ofPractice as a condition of holding a waste management licence or PPC permit.
The code would require MRFs which sort municipal wasteto measure the quality of their inputs and outputs at a minimum frequency and make the information available on a quarterly basis to the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).
An impact assessment accompanying the consultation estimates that this would cost operators a total of 260,000 to implement, or 12,000 for each of the 22 MRFs in Scotland.
Confidence
The Scottish Government claims the testing regime is neededto boost the confidence of reprocessors in the material they buy from MRFs.
Itcites a study of eight Scottish MRFs in 2012 which found average contamination levels in inputs of 10.5%, with some significantly higher.It addsthat less than 30% of MRF operators have robust quality monitoring processes in place and relatively fewhave signed up to thevoluntary Recycling Registration Scheme, launched in 2007 to promote MRF quality.
The consultation document states: The Scottish Government proposes to establish a statutory arrangement such that, from 2014, all MRFs located in Scotland that sort mixed dry recyclate (above a minimum throughput) measure the composition of inputs and outputs at minimum frequencies using a standardised approach and make this information available for dissemination.
“The new information on quality would provide missing information to suppliers of the material and buyers of the material”
Scottish Government
It adds: The new information on quality would provide missing information to suppliers of the material (local authorities) and buyers of the material (reprocessors).
Testing
Under the proposed testing regime, Scottish MRF operators would need to take at least a 25kg sample of material either twice a week or for every 200 tonnes of waste sorted, whichever is more frequent.A British Standard for material sampling may be developed which MRF operators could gain accreditation against. Full details of the proposed sampling regime have been published in an annexe to the consultation.
The MRF data would be made available to the public and could be used to target enforcement action regarding illegal waste exports.
Importantly, itcould alsobe used to assess whether the material produced is of comparable quality to recyclables collected separately at the kerbside. This is important because, under the Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2012, local authorities in Scotland will only be able to operate commingled collections from 2015 which can produce material of a comparable quality to separately collected material.
The Scottish Government says that paper and glass sent to a MRF for sorting are unlikely to be of a high enough quality to qualify and that commingled collections involving these materials should therefore be avoided.
Grading
In total, the Action Plan proposes 13 actions to boost the quality of recyclables in Scotland.
Related Links
Other key proposals include:
- The development of a voluntary system for grading the quality of recyclate for each of the main material streams (paper, car, plastics, glass and metal)
- SEPA to publish all MRF data online in an open manner
- Zero Waste Scotland and WRAP to undertake a UK-wide study of waste transfer/bulking stations to determine the typical quality of each of the key recylate streams
The consultation is open until December 28 2012.
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