production management
With environmental protection increasingly important, there have been changes to regulations
regarding what waste can go to landfill. How will it affect your business, what exactly are the new
rules - and how could it affect your profitability?
Watch the waste line
NEW rules governing the
landfilling of non-hazardous waste
came into force on 30 October 2007 as
the final change under the Landfill
Directive. It means that landfills can
no longer accept any untreated waste
(untreated hazardous waste has already
been banned from landfill). Businesses
in England and Wales must make sure
that their waste is treated before it is
landfilled. Businesses in Northern
Ireland are also required to do this
through a previous amendment.
For metal product manufacturers,
the option is to either treat their waste
themselves or ask their waste
contractor to do this on their behalf.
Treating waste may simply mean
collecting it as individual waste
streams and sending at least one of
these waste streams for recycling. The
new regulations also ban the disposal
of all liquid wastes to landfill. Until
now, the landfill regulations have only
banned untreated hazardous waste
from going to landfill. The aim is
simple - to protect our environment by
diverting waste from landfill and
increasing recycling and recovery. For
small businesses, there are also more
tangible benefits - such as saving
money. As the cost to send waste to
landfill is increasing, you can make
substantial cost savings by reducing the
amount of waste you produce and by
reusing waste materials.
Do the new regulations affect metal
product manufacturing businesses?
They affect every business in the UK
that produces waste - regardless of size
or type of business. You may find that
you are already meeting the
regulations without realising it. Two
thirds of small businesses already
recycle their waste - this is a form of
‘pre-treatment’ and means that you are
already meeting the new requirements.
Your waste management contractor
may already be treating your waste for
you prior to landfilling so speak to
them to find out if this is the case.
As the cost to
send waste to
landfill is
increasing, you can
make substantial
cost savings by
reducing the
amount of waste
you produce and
by reusing waste
materials
What steps should metal product
manufacturing businesses take to
ensure they are conforming to the
new regulations?
If you decide to keep sending your
waste to landfill and you find out that
it isn’t being treated first, there are
several options open to you. You can
segregate or sort waste yourself and
recycle, recover or compost at least part
of it. Alternatively, you can appoint a
licensed waste contractor to take your
waste and sort out part of it for
recycling on your behalf. Businesses
already have a Duty of Care to ensure
that they describe their waste properly
and only give it to an authorised
person to take away. Following the 30
October ban on landfill, when you
transfer waste to somebody else, you
should also tell them whether the
waste has been treated or not. It is good
practice to fill out a written declaration
and to keep a copy.
Will these new regulations cost me
money?
You may find there is some initial
financial outlay, for example if you
need to buy in recycling services from
your waste contractor, or invest in
segregation facilities on-site. However,
42 MWP march 2008
you should see costs recouped in terms
of reduced landfill charges and
improved resource efficiency, as you
reduce the amount of waste you
produce and reuse waste materials.
Where can I seek advice on these
changes - and on broader
environmental regulations?
NetRegs.gov.uk is an environmental
guidance website set up by the UK’s
environmental regulators. A recent
survey found that just 15% of all small
and medium sized businesses have
carried out a waste minimisation
survey, and only 40% have an
environmental policy in place.
NetRegs provides free, plain
language guidance to the UK’s SMEs to
help them comply with all
environmental regulations. Here, you
will find further information on the
new pre-treatment requirements.
NetRegs helps SMEs to understand, in
plain language, what key
environmental legislation affects their
businesses. It then helps to identify the
practical things businesses need to do to
comply with the law and prevent
accidental pollution incidents, and also
gives sector-specific detail.
NetRegs provides a directory of
licensed recycling and waste
management facilities through its
free online Waste Directory.
Businesses can find their nearest waste
facility by typing in their postcode
and selecting the types of waste they
need to dispose of. NetRegs.gov.uk
also offers an online compliance selfassessment
questionnaire to help
SMEs understand the legislation that
applies to them and find guidance to
improve their compliance. Businesses
in England and Wales can also
download factsheets on the new pretreatment
rules by visiting the
Environment Agency’s website under
the ‘New rules for non-hazardous
waste’ section.
www.netregs.gov.uk.
www.environmentagency.gov.uk/landfilldirective
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