NAWDO calls for delay to hazardous waste regulation changes

The National Association of Waste Disposal Officers heard “mixed and confused positions across the country” at its annual general meeting last week. It has now said the regulation changes, planned for July 16, must be put back.

” What NAWDO members need to know is whether they are obliged to separate TVs at CA sites or not, and if so, will the costs be met by government in full as a new burden?“
– Ian Fielding, NAWDO
One main area of concern was whether councils will have to separate items like televisions and fluorescent lights at household waste recycling centres.

Ian Fielding, chair of NAWDO, said: “Current guidance on the enforcement position from the Environment Agency is that councils should make reasonable efforts to separate hazardous waste, but it is far from clear what will be considered reasonable.”

Some councils are planning, or have already introduced systems to separate televisions, but others have been unable to do so on technical or financial grounds. Landfill operators have already been demanding televisions be separated from mixed waste under new waste acceptance criteria.

Costs
NAWDO has said the new regulations leave councils uncertain what is expected of them, and could expose them to “considerable” additional costs.

Mr Fielding explained: “With fridges, the obligations on Councils were clear – they could no longer go to landfill without having ozone depleting substances removed first. With domestic TVs and other newly classified hazardous waste, the requirement is confused as it depends on whether the items are separately collected. If they are domestic waste and are not separately collected, they are exempt from the new regulations.

“What NAWDO members need to know is whether they are obliged to separate TVs at CA sites or not, and if so, will the costs be met by government in full as a new burden?” he added.

NAWDO, an association of principal waste management officers from waste disposal authorities in England and Wales, wants to see transitional arrangements to implement the new hazardous waste regulations and remove the burden for councils.

Officers at the NAWDO AGM were also concerned that the new regulations could effectively see councils required to carry out measures that should be funded by electrical producers or retailers under European producer responsibility legislation, the WEEE Directive.