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Regulation of Waste Management Activities Past, Present and Future! Steve Bell Technical Manager Waste Management Thursday, 26 July 2007
Presentation Aims An insight of where we have come from with permitting Focus on the waste industry Present an understanding of the difficulties involved, and Where we might go to next Slide 3
We Produce Lots of Waste Each year in UK we produce :- Municipal - 35m tonnes, Commercial - 26m tonnes, Industrial - 56m tonnes, Construction /demolition - 104m tonnes Agricultural - 87m tonnes Total - 430m tonnes Slide 4
Most of it is Polluting Slide 5
Waste Problems If not disposed of carefully, waste can: pollute surface and groundwater, contaminate soil, cause explosions via production of landfill gas, release offensive odours, look unsightly attract vermin Slide 6
Polluted Surface Water Slide 7
Landfill Gas Explosion Slide 8
EU Requirements Member states must introduce measures to: reduce waste generation, and the amount landfilled, encourage recovery, reuse and recycling of waste, ensure that waste is managed in a way that prevents it causing pollution of the environment or harm to human health, and require any establishment or undertaking carrying out disposal or recovery operations to obtain a Permit. (Waste Directive 75/442/EC) Slide 9
WHY? Waste Management Regulation to ensure that the storage, treatment, transportation and disposal of all types of waste does not endanger human health or result in pollution of the environment, and that anyone producing waste takes responsibility for its proper disposal and meets his financial commitments Slide 10
Waste Regulation HOW? Facilities used in connection with the storage, treatment, recovery or disposal of waste, must be authorised, to Control the location, design and operation Slide 11
WHO? Waste Regulation The Waste Regulation Authority, using a licence or permit system subject to Conditions which should leave the operator in no doubt as to how he should operate the facility Slide 12
History of Waste Regulation 1972 Deposit of Poisonous Waste Act Made it an offence, for the first time, to deposit or abandon, poisonous, noxious or polluting waste on land in a way that could result in danger to public health or pollution of the Environment Introduced notification system Showed situation was even worse than had been thought Slide 13
Licensing System Introduced 1976 - Waste Disposal Licensing under Control of Pollution Act 1974 Proved not to be the powerful legislation needed, nor expected, by the waste industry only provided control of Disposal activities could not enforce against non-compliance with licence unless it could be related to a deposit Slide 14
Licensing System 20 Years on 1994 - Waste Management Licensing brought into force, (EPA 90) designed to improve on the previous system, Covered all waste management activities Made it an offence not to comply with a licence condition Introduced the Fit and Proper Person requirement Plus, Fees and Charges Slide 15
Not Enough? Although Waste Management Licensing covered almost all waste management activities, - except those which were exempt, important questions remained unanswered, Such as- what is waste? when does something become a waste? and when does waste cease to be waste? Slide 16
Waste Regulation under IPPC! 1999 - Pollution Prevention and Control Act - extended the scope of PPC to include Waste Management Activities 2000 PPC Regulations introduced a Permit system, designed to control the environmental impact of a range of industry sectors Included a range of waste management activities as Industrial Installations Requires the use of BAT (Best Available Techniques). Slide 17
Industrial and Waste Permitting Clean Air Act 1968 Deposit of Poisonous Waste Act 1972 Controls Discharges to watercourses and sewers IPC - LAAPC COPA 1974 EPA 1990 Waste Disposal Licensing Regulations 1976 - Waste Management Licensing Regulations - Exemptions PPC 1999 Duty of Care Industrial PPC Permits EPP WMLs and Waste PPC Permits Remove the split? Slide 18
PPC and WASTE What Waste Activities are controlled under PPC? Incineration - most Landfill the majority Disposal - other than by Incineration or Landfill - some Recovery Fuel from waste Slide 19
PPC and Landfill PPC Applies to all Disposal of Waste by Landfill, where:- Total capacity is more than 25 000 tonnes Accepts more than 10 tonnes per day, but Excludes inert waste only sites Slide 20
PPC and Other Waste Disposal PPC applies to a range of other waste disposal and management activities Key difference from landfill is that generally there is no deposition of waste to land Consequently most of these activities can be readily regulated in a way similar to other Industrial processes Slide 21
Underground Storage is Landfill! Slide 22
PPC and Treatment Treatment is defined as: Disposal of Waste Other than by Incineration or Landfill Disposal of hazardous waste in a facility with a capacity more than 10 tonnes per day, Disposal of non-hazardous waste in a facility with a capacity more than 50 tonnes per day: Biological treatment Physico-chemical treatment Slide 23
The problem now is - which authorisation system is relevant to your Waste Activity - Do you need a - Waste Management Licence, PPC Permit, Both, or Neither, because it is exempt? Permit or Licence Slide 24
Exempt Activities Waste Directive allows member states to prescribe cases where a Permit/Licence is not required, applies: where recovery / reuse results, only where waste is non-hazardous, except in specific cases exempt activities must be registered most are subject to time or quantity limits these form a set of rules Slide 25
Exempt Activities Number of Exempt Activities:- In 1976 11 In 1994-43 In 2006 51 The Regulations have been amended several times, changing the requirements for exemption, but can still be: Difficult to enforce Often mis-used Slide 26
EU v UK on Exemption Rules Member states must submit rules for exemption to EU - for Hazardous Waste the EU must approve these rules EU considered a number of the UK Rules to be inadequate and threatened infraction proceeding 2003 DEFRA commissioned Enviros to carry out a review of Exempt Activities where hazardous waste was involved, and make recommendations. Consultation Document published Sept 2005 2007 DEFRA consulted on all exempt activities Slide 27
Recent Environment Agency Initiatives EA has gradually increased the amount of detail required to support an application to register an exempt activity Now include a Risk Assessment in most cases Specific guidance now being produced for most exempt activities EA monitor exempt activities more closely Slide 28
So which one covers your activity? Current Options are: PPC Permit Waste Management Licence Standard Licence Fixed and Bespoke Licence Mobile Plant Licence Low Risk Activities Shell Licence Exempt Activities Simple and Complex Slide 29
To find out which you need: You need to know: what is the nature of the waste if it is Hazardous or Non-hazardous whether you are disposing of, recycling, recovering or reusing the waste if it fits one of the exemptions whether it could be a PPC Activity Then you need to meet with the Environment Agency Slide 30
But things are about to happen In UK, DEFRA and EA are carrying out a:- Review of Exempt Activities Review of the current permitting system ( PPC Permits and Waste Management Licences), with the aim of developing a single regulatory system Introduction of Environmental Permits Slide 31
Environmental Permits To replace Licences and Permits: May cover more than one facility, Standard permits not site specific, Changes to Technical Compliance, Operator must hold Permit Slide 32
For the Future! EU: New Waste Framework Directive proposed Hazardous Waste Directive to incorporated Waste to become a Resource Export / Import of waste simplified Slide 33