- Landfill Directive 1999/31/EC
This Directive aims to improve standards of landfill through setting specific requirements for the design, operation and aftercare of landfills and for the types of waste that can be accepted. The Directive aims to reduce the amount of biodegradable municipal waste sent to landfill. All landfill sites are to be classified as either hazardous, non hazardous or inert. Certain wastes will be banned from landfill sites over a number of years including liquids and explosives.
These requirements are implemented in the UK through the:
These regulations empower HM Customs and Excise to levy a tax against the disposal of waste to landfill. Although operators of landfill sites are responsible for paying the tax, costs are passed on to those disposing of the waste. Two levels of tax are set a) inert or inactive waste and b) all other waste. Certain materials are exempt including dredged material from harbours, naturally occurring materials from mining or quarrying and waste from the clearance of historically contaminated land.
This Order came into force on 30/10/07. It exempts from landfill tax the disposal of material that has been removed from water and other material added to it so that it is not liquid waste.
- EC Directive on the disposal of waste oils 75/439/EEC
- EC Directive on protection of groundwater 80/68/EEC
- Recommendation of the European Parliament and the Council (2001/331/EC) on the minimum criteria for environmental inspections
- Commission Decision 2000/532/EEC as amended by Commissioning Decision 2001/118/EC and 2001/119/EC (European Waste Catalogue and Hazardous Waste List)
- Council Decision 2003/33/EC establishing criteria and procedures for the acceptance of waste at landfills
POP Regulations are implemented under the global treaty - the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants. The regulations came into force in December 2007 and enforce provisions relating to disposal of stockpiles and waste management of pollutants such as pesticides and industrial chemicals; typically DDT / PCBs which persist in the environment and may bioaccumulate through the food chain.
The UK and all other Member States have a deadline of 26 Sept 2008 to transpose the provisions into national law. When the Directive is transposed in the UK, the Directive will reduce the quantity of hazardous and non hazardous waste batteries going to landfill and increase the recovery of the materials they contain.
The Directive seeks to improve the environmental performance of batteries and accumulators and of the activities of all operators involved in the life cycle of batteries and accumulators, e.g. producers, distributors and end users and, in particular, those operators directly involved in the treatment and recycling of waste batteries and accumulators.
The disposal of waste industrial batteries in landfill and by incineration is banned from 1st January 2010. If new industrial batteries are purchased the battery producer must take back your waste batteries. Organisations should contact their battery producer to find out the arrangements for returning waste batteries.
- The Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations 2009
The EU's Directive on Batteries and Accumulators and Waste Batteries and Accumulators (2006/66/EC) aims to reduce the environmental impact of portable, automotive and industrial batteries by increasing recycling and 'greening' the supply chain that produces and distributes them. It applies to all types of batteries regardless of shape, volume, weight, material composition or use.
The Waste Batteries and Accumulators Regulations 2009 came into force on 5th May 2009 which establish the legislative framework for the collection, treatment and recycling of waste batteries and accumulators in the UK.
A key element requires persons placing batteries on the market to register as a producer of batteries, and report on waste batteries collected and sent for recycling.
These regulations establish the scope of 'producer responsibility', requiring producers of batteries and accumulators to take responsibility for separately collecting and recycling batteries and accumulators once they become waste.
Regulations covering collecting, recycling and reprocessing portable batteries come into force on 1 February 2010. Business using portable batteries should check with their supplier if they are operating a take back scheme (unless they sell less than 32kg of batteries per year). Regulations banning the disposal of waste industrial batteries to landfill or by incineration come into force on 1 January 2010. From 1 January 2010 if you buy new industrial batteries, the battery producer will take back your waste batteries.
The over-arching Battery Directive aims to improve the environmental performance of those involved in the life cycle of batteries, e.g. producer, distributors, end-users and waste operators. The regulations aim to protect the environment from hazardous compounds found in industrial and automotive batteries. It prohibits the disposal of untreated industrial and automotive batteries to landfill or by incineration. Operators are required to store batteries only on an impermeable surface and under weatherproof covering;
Requirements for handling batteries will also see amendments to existing licenses granted under the Waste Licensing Regulations 1994 and existing permits granted under the Pollution Prevention and Control (Scotland) Regulations 2000.
- EC Directive on Waste Elecrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)
The Waste Electrical Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive 2002/96/EC came into force in January 2003. Operators are responsible for the full costs of the waste disposal process for equipment supplied before 13 August 2005 if sent to shore for disposal and there is no intention to replace it with products of a similar function. However, operators will not have to finance the disposal of waste where:
(a) equipment was supplied after 13 August 2005; or
(b) equipment provided before that date is replaced with similar products.
The UK Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2006 for implementing the WEEE Directive entered into force on 2 January 2007. View Regulations.
These regulations have been introduced to amend the 2006 WEEE Regulations. The amendment changes words; e.g. 'mixture' replaces 'preparation'. It also inserts a new definition of 'dangerous substance or mixture'. Two dates have also been realigned in the 2006 regulations. The update applies to the whole of the UK.
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