Concern over impact of End of Waste on UK

Concerns over the potential impact that EU End of Waste criteria for biodegradable waste could have on the UK were voiced at the Association for Organics Recycling (AfOR)annual conference last week.

The End of Waste criteria are being developed by the European Commission to determine when a product like compost or digestate is of a high enough quality to no longer be considered waste. The intention of the Commission is to remove the administrative burdens of waste legislation for safe and high-quality waste materials, promote quality assurance, and improve harmonisation and legal certainty in the recyclable material markets.

One reason for the proposed pan-European criteria is to help ensure food produced in Europe using waste-derived organic material is safe to eat.

But, officials from both Defra and WRAP told delegates at the event in Warwickshire that they could see little benefit for the UK, where end of waste has already been established through Quality Protocols for compost and digestate.

And, they said that replacing the existing system could create a headache for certification bodies and laboratories and risked impacting upon end markets and recycling rates.

‘Problems’

Sean Ryan, who works on energy from waste and food waste at Defra, said the department wanted to avoid ending up in a situation like that seen in the story of the race between the tortoiseand the hare, whereby the hare, which is much faster as the start, is the one to ultimately lose out.

He said: We started out early and dont see a lot of additional benefit as we already have End of Waste but we do see problems.

We have developed quality protocols for compost and digestate. We are trying to judge what would be the effect of changing that.

Mr Ryan said that Defra had already provided some detailed feedback to the Commissions Joint Research Centre, which is developing the proposals and the department has now commissioned WRAP to carry out a full impact assessment.

WRAP

Nina Sweet, who is leading the impact assessment work at WRAP, explained that while the JRCs proposals were quality protocol-shaped there are some marked differences in areas such as the information which compost and digestate producers will be required to supply to customers and in the sampling and analysing regime. Ms Sweet raised concerns over the time and cost involved with swapping to a new system and the potential impact this could have on end markets.

As outlined in an information note published by Defra last month (see letsrecycle.com story) the European criteria would allow more physical contamination (0.5%) in compost than the UK PAS100 standard currently allows (0.25%) and would also limit the amount of fatty acids in fully processed digestates making it harder for digestate produced from food waste to achieve end of waste status. Other differences include a new minimum organic matter content of 15% in the European proposals and no plant response test, which is an important part of the process in the UK.

Ms Sweet said: There are very important differences between the proposal and the UK system that need a full impact assessment to fully understand the potential impact on UK business.

She added: We have done extensive work to develop the market in the UK and provide market confidence. We need to understand any potential impact that could reduce confidence in the use of those materials. We need end markets for the industry to survive. We do very desperately need to maintain the markets that we have developed already.

Impact

Ms Sweet warned that if the UK could not achieve European End of Waste status for material it could impact on contracts and recycling rates.

We need to know what the potential changes might be. What is the impact on recycling targets that will be a critical part of the work, she said.

However, Ms Sweet said it was important not to panic as the current proposals are not final.

Echoing this message, Mr Ryan urged organics recyclers to provide as much feedback to Defra as possible while there is still time to influence the proposals.

He said: The earlier we get involved the more we can sort them out at a technical level before it becomes political.

JRC

Defra and WRAPs comments followed a presentation by Hans Saveyn, scientific officer at the JRC based in Seville, Spain, who brought delegates up-to-date on the development of the End of Waste proposals for biodegradable waste subject to biodegradable treatment.

He explained that the process for developing end of waste takes place in two phases. In the first, the JRC prepares technical proposals and then in the second these are passed to the Commission which prepares draft regulations for scrutiny in the European Parliament.

He said: It is very important to stress that what Im presenting is not final, everything might change. Work with the technical working group might also not lead to official criteria if the Commission decides not to.

Consultant and former AfOR board member Peter Jones asked Mr Saveyn if it would not be easier to let member states set their own End of Wastecriteria for biodegradable waste, as compost and digestate are not commodities which are traded over big distances.

Mr Saveyn said: The only grounds for specific changes for member states would be environmental grounds and not market grounds.

The JRC expects to approve a technical report in Summer/Autumn 2012, with legislation drafted soon after and adoption of the act in late 2013. Member states will then be given a set period in which to comply.