The new procedures are currently contained within a draft guidance document – known as a Publicly Available Specification (PAS) – being prepared for WRAP by the standards company BSI and currently out for consultation. A wide range of organisations are being consulted on the proposals.
This document follows several months after a WRAP-backed PAS for compost which has caused some controversy. A PAS is not thought to have any legal standing in itself but can be included into contracts.
 Conveyors and picking areas in MRFs would have to be cleaned after every work shift under the new guidelines |
The new specification, which has been drawn up in the wake of some concerns over the quality of waste paper collected from households, is expected to be published next month. It aims to ensure that the quality of paper recovered from households is good enough for use by reprocessors through setting clear guidelines throughout the recycling chain.
According to a recent draft of the PAS, regardless of the collection systems used, a number of good practices “should be adopted”. Observers suggest that these are expected to have “implications for waste management firms operating materials recycling facilities and for local authorities or contractors organising collection rounds and operating vehicles.”
Good practice in MRFs
MRF operators may face at least nine specific requirements. These include keeping any loading bucket clean on a daily basis, cleaning conveyors and picking areas at the end of each shift and cleaning overband magnets every three days.
Operators should also ensure that plant and working areas are cleaned thoroughly every six months. It is thought that the cleaning requirement will be set as a minimum rather than a precise requirement.
Collections
When material is collected from households, residents must be reminded “frequently” of key messages and consistency needs to be adopted in what is said. The draft document also says that good practice in household collection will see instructions kept simple and graphics used to aid understanding.
Operational good practice
Contractors working for local authorities who opt to use the guidelines, could have at least nine practices to adopt. This will include ensuring that vehicles are clean and never placing other waste in vehicles while collecting dry mixed recyclables.
| Related links: |
Operators must also leave unwanted items when collecting materials so as to signal to residents what is not acceptable. They will also have to “avoid mixing up residents' bins or boxes”.
The guidance document is now out for consultation ahead of publication. Input has also come from a number of organisations other than WRAP, including LARAC (the Local Authority Recycling Advisory Committee) and the Confederation of Paper Industries.
Subscribe for free