The guidance, which applies to waste sites where more than 50 cubic metres of solid combustible waste material is stored at any one time, and had included specific storage, separation and stack size information for each sector within the industry (see letsrecycle.com story).
Following a consultation period that ended on July 25, the cross-sector working group which drew up the document has issued amendments to the minimum separation distances between individual waste stacks.
Stack sizes and separation distances previously recommended by the group have been replaced with standards recently published by the Confederation of Fire Protection in Europe (CFPA-E).
Under the changes, specific recommendations for individual material types including wood, paper, RDF and plastics have been removed and replaced with minimum separation distances for all types of waste.
Maximum individual stack widths are now placed at 40 metres if adequate access is available from both sides, and will remain at 20 metres if access is only available from one side of the stack.
Volume
Meanwhile, the maximum volume of individual stacks is recommended at 2,000 square metres for loose waste storage, and 1,600 metres for baled waste. The distance between a series of stacks must be 20 metres unless suitable firewalls are used.
The report reads: “This is independent guidance and the most recent information currently available. However, this may change over time as more information on the fire properties of wastes becomes available.”
Structural changes have also been made to the 89-page publication in order to ‘assist with interpretation’ and clarify the ‘three approaches’ waste operators can take to stack size management.
The revised document will now be submitted for a second consultation, and has already been sent to some industry members.
Positive
Commenting on the revisions, WISH Forum chair Chris Jones said that early feedback showed ‘more than 90%’ of respondents had been positive about the working group amendments.
Mr Jones said: “When you look at what we were proposing in comparison with the CFPA standards, there doesn’t seem to be much difference. However, their decision has already been published and has some recognition.
“The need to get something out is still urgent. We will aim to publish most of the guidance in the coming weeks, with the rest to follow in early 2015.”
Mr Jones added that the working group was still committed to testing live stack burns to determine the combustion properties of waste. The research is due to be conducted by December 2014.
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