The warning came in a letter last week (8 September) that the Recycling Association’s chief executive Paul Sanderson addressed to the environment minister Rebecca Pow on behalf of the organisation. Minister Pow was urged to reconsider whether low-risk facilities that currently operate under a waste exemption should need to apply for a new permit.
Mr Sanderson was referring to changes to the waste exemption regime in England and Wales, first consulted on in 2018.
Defra said the reforms would “crack down on dangerous waste cowboys and illegal practices” and provide for “greater scrutiny of activities at waste sites to prevent waste stockpiling and tax evasion”.
Explaining the changes, Defra said that the current rules in England and Wales allow certain low-risk, small-scale waste activities to be carried out under a registration scheme, exempt from the need to hold an environmental permit, providing a light-touch but valuable form of regulation.
The department continued: “However, criminals have used the cover of exemptions to carry out illegal waste activities such as stockpiling large amounts of undocumented or unsuitable waste and evading landfill tax in England and landfill disposals tax in Wales. These abuses are estimated to cost the English economy £87.2 million a year.
“The government confirmed plans to close these loopholes in the Environmental Improvement Plan, alongside a pledge to seek to eliminate waste crime by 2043.”
‘Grandfather’
In the letter, the Recycling Association has asked that existing facilities that operate under a waste exemption are able to exercise a ‘grandfather’ right that would enable them to be granted a permit under current operating conditions.
The association explained that meeting new “stringent” criteria under the rules could mean “significant” investment, delays due to requiring planning permission to make changes to facilities and their closure while construction takes place for many small and medium-sized businesses.
The letter stated that the proposed measures “caused panic” among the association members, with a large number of members subsequently hiring environmental consultants on the work that will be needed to meet the requirement of the permit. It outlined that “the majority have been told the work to install concrete walls, higher kerbsides and other measures will likely lead to 7-figure investment”.
Consultation
The rules were first consulted on in 2018, with details of the changes to the waste exemption regime for England and Wales published in February. A further consultation held by the Environment Agency is planned for this autumn before proposed implementation in April 2024.
The association’s chief executive however argued that “when the consultation was undertaken in 2018, it was a very different time”. He said: “Since then, we have had Covid, we’ve seen the invasion of Ukraine by Russia lead to higher costs, and the economic situation and market conditions globally are tougher. Additionally, as the initial consultation was five years ago, there was a lot of surprise that these measures had been suddenly revived.”
Mr Sanderson then added: “We need a re-think on these measures to ensure that these businesses that provide essential services to local authorities and commercial and industrial customers are not lost.”
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