It is understood that the four materials will be included in the waste protocols project's programme of work for 2009/10 and 2010/11, adding to the 11 materials that have already been considered since its launch in 2005.
• Cathode ray tube glass
• Non-virgin wood from post-industrial and post-consumer sources
• Compressed tyre bales
• Treated ash from the incineration of poultry litter, feathers and straw
Quality Protocols are issued to offer guidance on when a material stream no longer represents a threat to the environment and is therefore no longer subject to waste regulations.
It is believed that the project will also conduct a full review and consultation on the existing Quality Protocol for the production of aggregates from inert waste, as it aims to bring its content in line with more recently-finalised Quality Protocols.
The Environment Agency put out a call for new materials that it could consider under the project in January 2009 (see letsrecycle.com story), together with a series of criteria that materials would have to meet to be added to the Quality Protocols programme.
The EA and WRAP have claimed that the work they have already completed under the programme will, over the next 10 years, create savings of more than £400 million for businesses and industry, as well as creating a £280 million market for the materials and divert 17 million tonnes of waste from landfill.
To date, the project has launched full Quality Protocols on flat glass, compost and non-packaging plastic waste, while Quality Protocols for anaerobic digestate, gypsum from waste plasterboard, tyre-derived rubber materials and biodiesel derived from waste cooking oil and rendered animal fat are awaiting final European Commission (EC) approval.
Consultations have also recently been completed for processed fuel oil, paper sludge ash and pulverised fuel ash and furnace bottom ash, but the revised versions of these protocols are yet to be published or submitted to the EC.
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