End of Waste criteria for glass come into force

However, questions are being asked over what exactly the criteria will mean on the ground in the absence of government guidance. In particular, there is uncertainty over how glass recyclers can become accredited for EoW and what the impact of the changes will be on the PRN system.

A spokeswoman for Defra told letsrecycle.com that the criteria would have a positive impact and that guidance would be issued shortly.

She said: We will issue guidance to the industry shortly. We believe the new regulations will benefit glass recyclers and the glass industry as a whole, particularly by reducing costs relating to the movement and trading of glass cullet and by providing an incentive to improve the quality of material.

Criteria

The End of Waste criteria for glass were adopted by the European Commission in July 2012 (see letsrecycle.com story) and state that only glass which is a suitable quality for re-melting into bottles can achieve end of waste status.Aregulation wasintroduced in December 2012 andcame into force on Tuesday (June 11).

Tim Gent, director of glass recycler Recresco, said that until guidance was produced, it was hard to understand the impact of the regulations.

He said: My problem is that I have to be accredited by a body to do it, but who will be accrediting it? We really need guidance as everything else is an assumption.

There are currently no bodies able to accredit End of Waste status for glass, although a spokesman for the UK Accreditation Service (UKAS) told letsrecycle.com that it had received one application from one certification body for accreditation to the new regulations.

PRNs

Phil Conran, director of consultancy 360 Environmental, also said guidance was needed, adding that clarity was needed on when PRNs for glass would be issued under the new regulations, as not all glass recyclers would necessarily be accredited for End of Waste.

He said: It is not yet known how the process is going to work. I think a big issue is that the End of Waste regulations require a quality standard for glass, but at this stage there doesnt seem to be any standard. Whether companies will be able to broadly apply the standards, we dont know yet.

He added: But at the moment the far more crucial issue is who can issue the PRNs? Somebody needs to be accredited to issue PRNs for something that is no longer a waste, and some reprocessors are concerned about this.

Rebecca Cocking, head of container affairs at British Glass, said she expected the impact of the EoW criteria would not be felt immediately as it would take a while to bed in.

She said: This year I think it will be interesting to see how it all pans out and hopefully next year we will start to see things pick up.

Clarity

Commenting on the regulations, a spokesman for the EU Commission said that legal clarity by harmonising quality criteria across the whole of the EU.

He said: The entry into force of the regulation setting up end-of-waste criteria for glass cullet is another contribution to promoting resource efficiency and a circular economy. These criteria allow precious natural resources to come back into the economy by facilitating and promoting the recycling of glass in the EU.

End of Waste criteria for a number of materials are currently being developed by the EU under the revised Waste Framework Directive. Criteria has already come into force for aluminium, iron and steel, in October 2011 (see letsrecycle.com story).