On the 16th of July 2005 the Hazardous Waste Regulations (England and Wales) were implemented, all waste that was once considered Special Waste and a number of additional Wastes are now classified Hazardous.

The regulations require waste to be recovered and disposed of without endangering Human Health, Animal Health, Air, Soils, and Plants. It also legislates against any process or method that causes, nuisance, odour, or noise, that could harm or pollute the environment in any way.

Hazardous Waste requires specific handling, appropriate containment, storage and packaging prior to collection / disposal. Waste is considered Hazardous when it contains substances or has properties that make it dangerous or harmful to the Environment.

Examples

Flammable / Irritant / Harmful / Toxic / Carcinogenic/ Corrosive / Infectious / Mutagenic etc.

Some effective methods for controlling the risk to people and the environment are as follows...

Nominate a person officially responsible, use suitable storage facilities and containers, employ correctly licensed Waste Carriers or Service Providers.

It is a list of Waste descriptions that are divided into twenty main chapters relating to waste producer classification subdividing into categories based on individual processes and material. Individual Hazardous Wastes within each chapter are assigned a unique six figure code followed by an asterisk *

There are three types of entry in the European Waste Catalogue these are as follows

Absolute Entry

An absolute entry is where the European Waste Code is Hazardous irrespective of the concentration of substances, properties or components.

Mirror Entries

A mirror entry is where a judgement has to be made on the actual percentage content of any dangerous substances, the waste must then be compared against the threshold level to determine whether the waste is actually defined hazardous or not.

Non Hazardous Entry

This is for Waste classified as non harmful to the environment

Regulation Exemptions

Some business activities are exempt from premises Notification a complete guide is available on the Environment Agency Web site these include producers of less than 200kg of Hazardous Waste per annum and Registered Charities.

The European Waste Catalogue can be rather complicated to understand and even within the waste management industry there is some debate with regard to the classification of certain wastes, in some cases anomalies do arise when code classifications seem correct under more than one entry. Defining the correct European Codes thus can be problematic. However a number of specialist consulting companies do exist that offer professional technical advice on doing so, please contact us for more information.

It is your responsibility to ensure the following....

Waste Transfer Note

The waste should be adequately described on the Waste Transfer Note then signed by the waste producer on collection of the filled skip / container ensuring the correct European Waste Code has been entered on the Waste Transfer Note (reference the European Waste Catalogue). Do not complete the note yourself. The waste transfer note must be kept on record for 2 years.

Multiple Waste Transfer Note

A Multiple Waste Transfer Note otherwise know as a Season Ticket for short can be issued by the Waste carrier / contractor for a twelve month period providing the collection company and waste produced remains the same ensuring the correct European Waste Code is used.

Consignment Note (Requirements)

Premise Notification is required for any business activity that produces Hazardous Waste of more than 200kg per annum and does not meet the criteria for statutory exemption. Your registration can be done online, by post or over the telephone further information is available at www.environment-agency.gov.uk

We can complete the registration on your behalf for an administration fee of £10.00 plus registration fee this will then be
added onto the final invoice.

Where a Consignment note is required an additional administration charge will be added by the Waste contractor / collector, this cost will vary.

The consignment note must be kept on record for 3 years.

The UK Standard Industrial Classification of economic activities (UK SIC) is used to find the correct Standard Industrial Classification Code for a specific activity and can be found on www.companieshouse.gov.uk

Any company removing waste should hold a valid registered or exempt Waste Carriers Licence this is issued by the Environment Agency and lasts for a period of three years from the date of issue.

A Waste Broker makes arrangements on behalf of others to handle, transport, and dispose of your waste and shares the responsibility with the waste holder for the proper management of the waste before and after it is transferred, as they control what happens to the waste.

Any company making arrangements to remove waste on your behalf should hold a valid Waste Brokers Licence this is issued by the Environmental regulator. Registrations are valid for three years from the date of issue unless they already hold a waste management licence that allows them to dispose or recover waste.

IT IS ULTIMATELY THE WASTE PRODUCERS RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE LEGAL COMPLIANCE WITH BOTH ENVIRONMENTAL AND COMMON LAW AND THAT WASTE IS ONLY DISPOSED OF OR RECOVERED BY AN APPROPRIATELY LICENCED INDIVIDUAL OR COMPANY. THE ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATOR MAINTAINS A REGISTER OF WASTE CARRIERS, BROKERS AND MANAGERS.

The information available on this website is not intended to be comprehensive and many details which may be relevant to particular circumstances have been omitted.

Accordingly it should not be regarded as being a complete source of environmental and common law and readers areadvised to seek independent professional advice before acting on anything contained herein.

Aardvark Waste Services cannot take any responsibility for the consequences of errors or omissions.

Please browse the other pages of our website or contact us to find out more.