EA to press ahead with healthcare waste limits

Currently the limit is 70,000 tonnes, but the Agency said respondents to a consultation it ran who have the required permit were in favour of the proposals.

The Environment Agency launched a consultation between 29 March and 12 May 2021 on plans to alter regulations around healthcare waste.

This included plans to alter the standard rules permit to both reduce the quantity allowed on site to 5,000 tonnes, as well as limiting the maximum quantity of non-hazardous waste stored on site to 20 tonnes at any one time.

Other alterations include storing aerosol canisters with rules limiting how long they can be stored on site.

Respondents

Of 10 respondents from the healthcare waste industry, the Agency said seven were in favour of the 5,000 tonne limit.

“They recognised that this would help to prevent the accumulation of stored waste on site. In some cases, they acknowledged that, as holders of one of these permits, they could manage this change,” the EA said.

The enforcement body continued: “Of the 2 respondents that answered ‘no’, neither hold one of these permits, so would not be impacted. Before including this in the permit consultation, we did a review of the annual quantity of waste accepted by existing permit holders. No permit holders exceeded this suggested limit. We therefore consider that this is an appropriate limit to set.”

“Reducing waste storage limitations will allow sites to be more aligned with best available techniques”– Tradebe

Pandemic

The updated rules set will apply for new entrants with immediate effect once published. Existing permit holders will have 3 months from the date the updated rules set is published to comply. We will send a letter to all existing permit holders providing them with the required information.

The proposals were welcomed by Helder Daravano, operations director of Tradebe UK Healthcare, who said: “The pandemic has led to increased volumes of clinical waste and a greater focus on its treatment and disposal. So, we welcome these changes, as reducing the waste storage limitations will allow sites to be more aligned with best available techniques and practises of treatment and help further improve waste traceability.”

Useful links

Standard rules permit consultation No 23: summary of consultation responses