Press Release from Howard Gosling –
September 2004
Hazardous Changes Are Here
Businesses who create hazardous waste in the water sector need
to be aware of recent changes in the management of hazardous
waste. There are legal obligations to handle it safely and
responsibly and to only give it to properly licensed waste
carriers and waste facilities.
For many years the UK has used landfills to dispose of both
hazardous and non-hazardous waste cheaply and easily. Such wastes
have often been disposed of together in the same landfill.
I can remember over twenty-five years ago when empty
containers of Voxsan A Sodium Hypochlorite went to a hazardous
waste site but because it was filling up so quickly it was deemed
that so long as they were washed out before disposal then the
containers could just go to ordinary landfill.
The practice of co-disposal of hazardous and non-hazardous
waste has been banned from 16th July 2004. Moreover
from that date, all hazardous waste requires treatment before it
is landfilled.
The new rules will affect not only the operators of landfill
sites but also producers of hazardous wastes.
Whereas there were over 200 landfill sites authorised to
accept hazardous waste in England and Wales previously, under the
new more onerous regulations there is only a handful of such
sites and at present I understand there are none at all in Wales.
The lost of landfill capacity is going to have a significant
affect on many businesses. The advice from the Environment Agency
is as follows:
- Check whether your waste is hazardous using Environment
Agency Guidelines at www.environment-agency.gov.uk/wm2
- Know where you hazardous waste is going. Mismanagement of
waste, particularly hazardous waste, has the potential to
harm the environment and human health. Businesses have a
legal duty of care to ensure that their hazardous waste
is passed to someone who has the authority to handle
such, as registered waste carriers, or properly
authorised waste management facilities. If in doubt,
check their authorisation or with the Environment Agency
on 0800 807 060. Failure to do so might result in your
waste being illegally handled or fly tipped and that
could lead to prosecution of your business as well as the
fly tipper.
- Explore options to reduce the amount of hazardous waste
you produce. The handling, treatment and disposal of
hazardous waste is expensive. However hazardous waste
minimisation, including substituting hazardous materials
for non-hazardous materials, provides a real opportunity
to reduce cost and improve efficiencies. The Enviro-wise
programme offers small businesses a free and confident
“fast track” waste minimisation audit to get
you started. Envirowise advisers can help on a wide range
of environmental issues including hazardous wastes. Its
Environment and Energy Helpline is freephone 0800 585794
or via the website www.envirowise.gov.uk
- Budget for rising costs for the treatment and disposal of
hazardous waste. With more stringent treatment of
hazardous waste and fewer places to dispose of it, costs
for hazardous waste disposal are bound to rise.
Incidentally, it is estimated that the cost of managing
hazardous waste will rise in the UK from £150 million to
£500 million per annum.
- Keep up to date - recent changes have resulted in more
wastes becoming hazardous. For some businesses this may
mean it will become a hazardous waste producer for the
first time, as hazardous waste classification encompasses
a broader range of equipment and materials than ever
before.
Clear regulatory and good practice advice on environmental
issues for small businesses, tailored for their industry sector,
can be found at www.netregs.gov.uk
If you are having difficulty in finding a home for a
particular type of hazardous waste, please contact the
Environment Agency on 08708 506 506.