In January I rambled on at length about EP OPRA and the fact that you would need a mortgage to afford the proposed waste management licence application fees after 1st April 2006 only to find out at 5pm on 31st March 2006 that it ‘might’ not be coming in. Well more fool me for writing about something that didn’t happen and I really should have known better as the fee updates are always late. There was no mention of the delay in implementation on the Agency’s web site and I could not find a single Agency officer who could definitely say what was going to happen in April. This month the Agency celebrated its 10th anniversary on the web site by proclaiming its top ten successes and whilst we all agree that prosecuting fly-tippers, cleaning up our rivers and managing flood risk are worthy achievements would it be too much to ask for better communication with an industry that provides it with a significant revenue?
The good news is that EP OPRA hasn’t been implemented and the 2006/7 charging scheme for waste management increases last year’s fees by 2.8%. But next year can we please have the thing on time?!
One other interesting development is the introduction of fixed licences which will have a reduced application charge (by 10%) and speed up the application process if the applicant uses a standard Agency risk assessment and a schedule of standard conditions is accepted. The licences will appeal to many operators because of the reduced costs but small savings in the application fee could result in much higher costs later as the licences currently shown on the EA’s web site have very restricted lists of permitted wastes. The main concern for any applicant should be that their new licence allows them to do what they plan to do. With much of my daily toil consisting of licence modifications to add new waste types to older licences, I can foresee these simplified licences requiring modification sooner rather than later. The moral of the application process is to apply for as wide a list of wastes on the licence as possible, even if you don’t intend to take them at the time of applying because modifications are both costly and time consuming. If a potential customer’s waste cannot be accepted at your site the tender is likely to go to someone else.
Mines, farms and quarries now subject to waste law.
The Waste Management (England and Wales) Regulations 2006 have been passed and come into force on 15th May 2006. Finally, after 12 years of waiting, mining, quarry and agricultural waste will become controlled waste and, with limited exceptions, subject to normal waste controls. In summary the Regulations make the following changes of interest to the skip business (with the emphasis on agricultural waste):
1. Farmers will not be able to bury their wastes after 15th June 2006 unless they prepare a conditioning plan for the landfill site and submit it to the Environment Agency for consideration, after which the Agency may permit continued operations, subject to stricter controls or close the site. Farm dumps will not continue as a result of this process.
2. It is estimated that less than 2% of the agricultural premises in England and Wales (>160,000) will apply for licences with the remainder having to opt for off-site disposal or recovery. Most farmers will not want a landfill permit because of the high developmental and operational costs involved.
3. Other than landfill, farmers will also have to register exemptions or apply for licences for disposal or recovery of some of their wastes but will not have to pay application fees (at present) and have up to 12 months to do so.
4. The government’s view is that the new controls will apply to non mineral mines and quarries waste.
5. The newly controlled wastes will be subject to the duty of care and carrier registration requirements, with limited exceptions, such as the carriage of animal by-products. However, producers of many wastes will still be exempt if carrying their own waste and carriers only engaged in the transport of mining, quarry or agricultural waste on a professional basis do not need to register.
6. The hazardous waste regime does not apply to the new wastes until 15th May 2007 so farmers can store their waste at the farm for up to 12 months, after which they must use send their waste to a site with a suitable licence, permit or exemption.
7. Farmers cannot burn non-natural wastes in the open air after 15th May 2006, particularly plastics and tyres. Drum incinerator used to burn rinsed polyethylene pesticide containers will be permitted for another 12 months.
The regulations may not present a huge increase in business for all skip operators but it is important to treat the newly controlled wastes in the same manner as household, commercial and industrial wastes to help affected farm premises comply with the new requirements. Further guidance from the Agency and DEFRA is expected shortly.
Marco Muia BSc (Hons) MSc MCIWM is the Director of Oaktree Environmental Limited. He specialises in all aspects of waste regulation consultancy and is a WAMITAB accredited assessor for the COTCs in waste transfer, treatment and inert landfill. He also holds the level 4 COTCs for Hazardous Waste Treatment and Transfer. You can contact Marco on 01606 558833 if you have any questions about this article.