HWRCs allowed to accept waste cable from construction work, Agency says

In June, the Agency published a regulatory position statement (RPS) in relation to “non-WEEE waste electrical and telecommunications cable from activities involving construction and demolition, end of life vehicles, and vehicles maintenance” (see letsrecycle.com story).

This set out a number of rules that those handling the material must meet in order to be compliant with regulations. The rules relate to:

• Waste cable from construction and demolition work is dual coded and consigned as 17 04 10 and 17 04 11
• Waste cable from vehicles is dual coded and consigned as 16 01 21 and 16 01 22

However, in an update to the RPS on  Tuesday (25 July) the regulator explained that those with a HWRC permit “are able to accept construction and demolition cable coded 17 04 10 (waste able from construction work)”.

Minor

While the updated guidance is minor, it will come as welcome news to HWRC operators who may not have been aware that the guidance impacted them.

As well as the newly added household waste recycling centre permit, the document sets out that construction and demolition cable coded 17 04 10 can also be accepted under a registered T9 waste exemption for recovering scrap metal, a registered S2 exemption for storing waste in a secure place or low risk waste position 49, ‘Storing and treating waste cable at existing T9 exempt operations’.

Requirements

The RPS was introduced on the back of research into composition of the previously mentioned material, identified that “at least 25% (potentially over 50%) of these cables exceed at least one hazard property, with very limited scope to tell the hazardous cables apart”.

The document also outlines that operators storing and treating waste cable can only do so “in areas which have an impermeable surface with sealed drainage”.

It advises operators not to accept any cable that contains oil or tar, any cable that includes cable from WEEE, mix any non-WEEE cable with cable from WEEE or mix any plastic from non-WEEE cable with plastic from WEEE cable. With the RPS set to run until the end of 2023, operators will need to check back at the end of the year to see if they require a new permit or need to vary an existing one (see letsrecycle.com story).