The potential crisis follows a crackdown by the Environment Agency over the export of materials overseas for reprocessing. The action could lead to MRF operators having to slow their intake of commingled material, so leaving supplies from hundreds of thousands of households unsorted.
The difficulties come after the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs revealed that the Environment Agency has discovered “potentially substantial amounts of waste being sent overseas, ostensibly for recovery, that do not conform with the requirement of the EU Waste Shipment Regulation.”
”Contaminated waste is being sent abroad in contravention of the Waste Shipment Regulation.“
– Sue Ellis, head of waste management, Defra
A strongly worded letter from Defra issued earlier this month, talks of illegal exports of municipal waste to EU and other countries and refers to “ongoing investigations”.
The letter looks at the procedures governing exports of municipal waste for use by overseas reprocessors – Defra uses the term “municipal waste” rather than recyclables or recovered material.
Defra view
The letter, from Sue Ellis, head of Waste Management Division, to waste authorities across the UK, reveals that her department and the Environment Agency have concerns “about the improper and potentially illegal exports of municipal wastes to countries both within the EU and developing countries.”
She suggests that councils need “to minimise the risk to you authority of being associated with this activity, you should assure yourselves that any exports of waste for recycling which originated in your jurisdiction are being undertaken in compliance with the relevant legislation.”
Ms Ellis says that there are three checks the councils can carry out, including asking whether the contractor is working in compliance with the relevant environmental legislation.
And, Ms Ellis points to a Europe-wide programme by the regulatory authorities trying to crack down on what she calls
Environment Agency view
The Agency is understood to consider that exports of municipal waste (or recyclables as industry would call the material) – should accord to grade lists and that some exports have included non-grade list material. It also argues that exports should all be notified correctly under the Transfrontier Shipment Regulations.
A spokeswoman for the Agency said: “The discussions we have been having with industry are about the export regulations, particularly in which exporters of particular kinds of recyclables have to provide notification. If you want to export paper, it should be paper you are exporting. Other kinds of materials as well are notifiable.”
She continued: “We are trying to get companies to work in compliance with the rules. Local authorities and their contractors need to be working within the system. It's their choice – there's no reason why they cannot export mixed recyclables. But, they are notifiable, and they must stay within the rules. The main export regulations are there in order to prevent waste being exported as a sham operation.”
London view
The Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone, is taking a close interest in the situation.
A spokeswoman for the Mayor of London said: “There are currently some issues around guidelines on recyclables that are collected and exported for reprocessing. This has been highlighted by a company, which is dealing with waste originating in London, so the Mayor’s representative is working with the Environment Agency and the company involved to resolve this.”
She continued: “Meetings were held where goodwill was shown by all parties and the Mayor is confident that the issues will be quickly resolved.”
Legal view
Experts contacted by letsrecycle.com over the issues surround the shipment regulations suggested that this is a difficult area for the Agency. This is because grade lists can vary and that the regulations themselves may not make sense for some materials. One example is that with a strict reading of the rules, “mixed paper” cannot include grey board or cardboard. Such an approach by officials is seen by some in the paper industry as a “ridiculous reading of the legislation” and heralding the end of mixed grades. With the UK exporting hundreds of thousands of tonnes of mixed paper each year, this might see substantial volumes landfilled in the future.
Council crisis
The issue is seen as particularly critical for local authorities in the London area where recycling rates have risen on the back of large amounts of commingled collections.
These range from Hillingdon in West London to Western Riverside Waste Authorities and in the east to Newham. Several south London boroughs also collect commingled material and the impact could even hit local authorities near the capital.
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