Information Legislation Contacts Wastebase Enworks

Legislation

Waste Management Licensing Regulations, 1994

A Waste Management Licence is required if you deposit, recover or dispose of controlled waste. It is also required if you store more than 23000 litres of your own special waste. The Regulations set out the procedure for obtaining a license. They also deal with revocations, suspensions, appeals, public registers and the definition of fit and proper persons (COTC).
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Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations, 1997

Apply to all businesses in the packaging chain which handle more than 50 tonnes of packaging each year and have an annual turnover exceeding £2 million. It aims to reduce the quantity of packaging waste going to landfill.
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Environmental Protection Act, 1990

This is the single most important piece of environmental legislation of recent times. It controls many aspects of how the environment is protected and regulated. The EPA 1990 (amended 1995) provides the main statutory framework in relation to waste.
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Environmental Protection (Duty of Care) Regulations 1991

This applies to anyone who produces, imports, keeps, stores, transports, treats, recycles or disposes of controlled waste. It also applies to brokers who arrange any of the above.

The Regulations describe all the steps you should take if the Duty of Care applies to you.
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Special Waste Regulations

Apply to parties who produce, carry, receive, keep, treat (inc. recovery) or dispose of wastes defined by the Regulations as ‘special’.
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Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999

This legislation results from the Integrated Pollution Prevention & Control Directive. It uses an integrated permitting process to enable the prevention, or if this is not possible, the reduction of pollution.
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Landfill Tax (Qualifying Materials) Order, 1996

Since October 1996 all waste deposited in landfill sites has been subject to a tax. The tax is based on weight of waste deposited - applying the ‘polluter pays principle’ and encouraging less landfill of waste.
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Landfill Regulations 2002

These regulations set out the pollution control regime for landfill sites, making those sites covered by the regulations, Part A1 installations under the Pollution, Prevention & Control Regulations.

Landfill sites must obtain permits from the Environment Agency to operate as either Hazardous, Non Hazardous or Inert sites.

Certain wastes are banned from hazardous sites, including liquid waste, flammable & corrosive waste.

These regulations amend the Duty of Care Regulations, in that transfer notes must now include a six figure reference of the waste, as shown in the European waste catalogue.
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National Waste Strategy

The Government's revised waste strategy outlines the need for an integrated approach to waste management in order to progress towards sustainable development. Key aims include tackling the growth in waste, increasing recycling levels, making greater use of energy recovery from waste and using resources more efficiently.
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Clean Air Act

The Clean Air Act 1993 consolidates the previous 1956 and 1968 Act and constitutes the operative legislation against pollution by smoke, grit and dust from domestic fires and commercial and industrial processes not covered by other legislation. It also regulates the combustion of solid, liquid and gaseous fuels and controls the heights of new chimneys.
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Proposed Directives

Click on ‘more’ for details of proposed directives currently under discussion.
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Please note: These statements are for your assistance and may not be complete for your company’s particular circumstances. If in any doubt you are advised to consult your local Groundwork office or the Environment Agency to ensure that any action you take is within the law.

Environment Agency:
Northwest Regional office (Warrington) - 01925 653 999
Sub-regional offices:
Northern area office (Carlisle) - 01228 25151
Central area office (Preston) - 01772 339882
Southern area office (Sale) - 0161 973 2237