Landfill (England & Wales) Regulations 2002
Landfill (England & Wales) Regulations 2002
Summary
Amendments to the regulations reclassified landfill sites as ‘hazardous', non-hazardous' and ‘inert' and initiated a ban on the landfill of certain types of waste. These included: non sludge liquid waste (as off 30 October 2007), waste that is explosive, corrosive, oxidising, flammable, highly flammable or infectious (immediate effect) and whole or shredded tyres (as of July 2006).
As of July 2005 waste has had to meet certain waste acceptance criteria (WAC) or it cannot be landfilled. The WAC include pH and organic content criteria as well as leaching criteria for hazardous substances, for example for toxic metals.
The regulations also set out Waste Acceptance Procedures (WAPs). These outline the information that waste producers must provide to landfill operators on the characterisation of the waste. Details that must be provided include the origin of the waste, it's consistency, e.g. smell, shape, colour, treatments that have been applied to it, the European Waste Catalogue code and whether it can be recovered or recycled.
Implications
A relaxation to the WAC could affect construction sites if they have on-site landfills. In this case, if the landfill operator carries out a risk assessment to cover leachate and emissions, and can show that the landfill will not have an adverse effect on the environment, then the operator may be allowed to set leaching criteria that is three times weaker than the regulations.
The reclassification of landfills means that fewer sites are available for the disposal of plasterboard. Although gypsum (plasterboard) is not classified as hazardous, it does contain more than 10% sulphate, therefore it must be disposed of to a mono-cell. This will increase the costs of landfilling plasterboard wastes unless producers dilute the waste within a mixed skip where less than 10% of the skip content is plasterboard.
Waste producing businesses within the construction industry must also ensure that waste meets the WAC of the site that it is to be lanfilled in and that the necessary information is provided on the waste to comply with the WAPs.
Overlaps
This legislation overlaps with the European Waste Catalogue as it puts into place further definitions of non-hazardous and hazardous waste.
There is also an overlap with the European Landfill Directive as both cover criteria waste must reach in order for it to be landfilled.
Opportunities
Businesses manufacturing alternatives to plasterboard, that can be disposed of more easily, will benefit from this legislation. The increased cost of disposing certain products will also encourage more efficient purchasing so that builders only buy the required amount of materials and therefore do not have to landfill large quantities of plasterboard.
This legislation will encourage contractors to find more sustainable, and cheaper ways of disposing of waste, as opposed to simply sending it to landfill. It can lead to greater emphasis being placed on reusing all supplies, and may lead to more innovative thinking on how all materials can be used on a site.
Guidance
The Regulations can be viewed in full at the OPSI website: