Major challenge presented by hazardous waste regulations

According to waste industry experts, several crunch issues lie ahead from July 16, when the new regulations come into force.

Industry will be faced with many questions and a key one concerns waste fluorescent light tubes.

The Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs confirmed this week that, for example, on an industrial estate the placing of just one fluorescent tube in a skip of general waste “in theory could render the rest of the waste to be hazardous”.

A spokeswoman for the Department said that the best practice to be adopted would be to clearly segregate the hazardous waste in the form of the tubes.

Local authorities should separate televisions where it is feasible to do so at civic amenity sites, the spokeswoman added. This could mean the provision of separate containers, as happens now with fridges.

However she said that there may be instances where a “member of the public might throw a television in with general waste” and that it might not be safe or practical to retrieve the TV.

Roadshows
To help inform industry and local authorities about the impact of the new regulations, a series of Hazardous Waste and Waste Acceptance Criteria Roadshows supported by the Environment Agency, the Environmental Services Association and local Chambers of Commerce, will take place in April-May 2005.

Hosted by the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management, these early morning sessions will last for 2 hours and give basic information, mainly directed at SMEs. Four dates have been arranged so far, with a fifth to be held in Hampshire.

Dates

27 April – Greater Manchester Chamber, Chamberlink Meeting Rooms, Churchgate House, 56 Oxford Street, Manchester M60 7HJ, 8.30-10.00am (registration from 8.00am)

6 May – Government Office for the South West, 2 Rivergate, Temple Quay, Bristol, BS1 6EH 8.30-10.00am (registration from 8.00am)

13 May – Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry, 75 Harborne Rd, Birmingham B15 3DH, 8.00-9.30am (registration from 7.30am)

19 May – Greater London Authority, City Hall, Queens Walk, London SE1 2AA
8.30-10.00am (registration from 8.00am)

To register, email: catherine.park@ciwm.co.uk or tel: Catherine Park: 01604 620426.