From composters' point of view this is good news because the material does not count towards the tonnage in their permit restrictions.
Martin Brocklehurst, EA
Under the Waste Protocols Project – which sets out criteria for when materials such as compost and flat glass ceases to be a waste – materials only used to be classed as a product when they were dispatched to the customer.
However, now the Environment Agency has issued a briefing note explaining that, provided all the other criteria in the protocols are met, the material will cease to be a waste straight away. The change will take immediate effect.
The move is important because it will allow companies to store material such as compost, biodiesel and tyre-derived rubber on or off site without requiring an additional waste management licence or an extension to their existing licence.
The EA note explained: “With immediate effect, we have decided that no distinction should be drawn between processed material that is awaiting despatch and processed material that has left the site.”
“This means that (provided all other criteria in the Quality Protocol have been met), the material will cease to be a waste, and can be stored on the site of production (or off-site) as a non-waste or outside of waste management controls,” it added.
Clarity
Commenting on the changes, Martin Brocklehurst, head of environment and business partnership at the Environment Agency, told letsrecycle.com: “This provides absolute clarity that operators do not need permission to store their products.”
“From composters' point of view this is good news because the material does not count towards the tonnage in their permit restrictions. That could be really helpful,” he added.
Mr Brocklehurst said that it would be beneficial for companies which needed to bulk up materials or store them due to market volatility.
He said: “We're trying to get a defensible legal position and make the whole thing easier to use. It is also good for business because in times of economic uncertainty from time to time operators may need to store material.”
“A lot of people such as the tyre industry have been saying that they want off-site storage and we have also had requests from biodiesel managers and composters,” he added.
The Waste Protocols Project is a joint project run by the EA and WRAP and has already published Quality Protocols for compost, flat glass and non-packaging plastics (see letsrecycle.com story) .
Protocols are also in development for:
-Gypsum from waste plasterboard
-Paper sludge ash
-Anaerobic digestate
-Blast furnace slag
-Processed fuel oil
-Pulverised fuel ash and furnace bottom ash
-Soils
-Tyre-derived rubber
-Waste vegetable oil
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