12 March 2010

Waste: are you exempt?

You may not be fully aware of how the Environmental Permitting (EP) Regulations can affect businesses that store or process waste. As the law now stands, many companies that store waste materials on site or undertake waste management processes such as bailing must have a permit from the Environment Agency - or risk prosecution for non-compliance.

The EP Regulations came into force in April 2008. They combined elements of Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) regulations with Waste Management Licensing (WML).

Much of the legislation applies only to the operations of waste management companies. However the stipulations for obtaining permits for activities surrounding waste storage, processing and handling will apply to many companies within the print and packaging sector.

Many types of waste operation will be exempt, and so will not need an environmental permit. Even under this legislation, though, most of these exemptions will still need to be registered as ‘exempt waste operations' with the Environment Agency (EA).

You will have to provide information on exemptions to the EA. The level of information required will vary depending on the risk the activity is seen to pose. Most exemptions within our sector are expected to be considered lower risk (simple) activities; all you need to do is to complete a form and return it to the EA. There is no charge for registering simple exemptions.

Areas under the legislation that could affect your business include the requirement for registering the exemption of the following activities: bailing, compacting, crushing shredding or pulverising waste at the place where it is produced (e.g. on site). And also the storage, at the place where it is produced, of waste which is to be submitted to such an operation.

Another area of this legislation that many companies will need to register an exemption for with the EA is the storage of Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment (WEEE). Details of how much and how it should be stored are specific to the type of WEEE waste but the length of storage on-site should not exceed three months.

For more details please see the Environment Agency Webpage http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/topics/permitting/default.aspx or http://www.netregs.gov.uk.