Defra reveals timetable for cutting waste red tape

A detailed plan setting out when the government intends to improve a number of waste and other environmental regulations has been published by Defra.

The Red Tape Challenge- Environment Theme Implementation Plan sets out the Department’s timetable for delivering proposals set out in March 2012 to streamline environmental regulations and reduce the burden they place on businesses (see letsrecycle.com story).

On waste, the plan commits to a consultation in March 2013 on freeing businesses from having to fill in Waste Transfer Notes in place of other forms of evidence such as invoices, which the department hopes will save businesses both time and money.

Meanwhile, a consultation is also planned for January 2013 on a review of the producer responsibility regimes for packaging and batteries, as indicated by letsrecycle.com last month (see letsrecycle.com story) .

The plan also reveals that Defra has written to the European Commission requesting it to exempt micro businesses, such as gardeners, from the EU waste carriers, brokers and dealers registration requirements for businesses carrying their own waste and is currently awaiting a response.

Other proposals relating to waste and recycling and the anticipated timetablesinclude:

• Removing the Site Waste Management Plan Regulations in October 2013 (consultation December 2012);
• Removing the Landfill Allowances and Trading Scheme Regulations from January 2013;
• Helping local authorities improve access for SMEs to Civic Amenity sites and kerbside collections in October 2012;
• Introduce an electronic waste duty of care recording system from January 2014;
• Reducing the turnaround time for decisions over environmental permits to a maximum of 13 weeks;
• Introducing regulatory changes to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2006 and amendments to address industry concerns by April 2014. One option is giving producers a fixed minimum tonnage to finance based on their market share. Another is a new central allocation system for local authority sites to help the schemes fully align collections with their members obligations. Also find an interim solution. One option is to calculate obligations based on the data from a previous compliance period to reduce uncertainty and help producers pay a more accurate amount.

The full list of proposals can be found on p.19-22 here.

Deadlines

Thedocument states: This plan, which establishes a clear set of deadlines for implementation with intermediate milestones, will form the basis for future monitoring of the delivery of this suite of proposals.

Defra wants to be transparent with stakeholders and the wider public. We have therefore tested the plan with our Sounding Board of stakeholders and are publishing the key implementation dates on the Defra website.

The Red Tape Challenge was launched by the Prime Minister in April 2011 and is examining some 6,500 substantive regulations with the aim of scrapping or significantly reducing as many of them as possible.