Environmental Regulations

The Hazardous Waste Regulations 2005 (HWR) came into force on the 16th of July 2005 and impact on the whole of the UK’s waste management, from producer to final disposer including you !!!

 

The key changes to existing legislation include :

 

PREMISES NOTIFICATION
Where hazardous waste is to be produced at or removed from any premises (other than exempt premises), the premises must be notified to the Environment Agency. No carrier or consignee may handle hazardous waste unless it has come from registered premises – doing so will be a finable offence. The notification is an annual requirement and is valid for one year.  You can register yourself via  www.environment-agency.gov.uk/subjects/waste


Our customers can contact our office for help with registration.

 

INCREASED LEVELS OF INFORMATION ON CONSIGNMENT NOTES AND CONSIGNMENT NOTE CHARGES
In addition to the current information on consignment notes the following extra information will be required : premises notification number, Standard Industrial Classification code (SIC), UN Number (from ADR Regs), proper shipping name (from ADR Regs), class (from ADR Regs), packing group (from ADR Regs), any special handling instructions and the six figure EWC code for each waste.

 

PROCEDURES FOR THE CLASSIFICATION OF HAZARDOUS WASTE
Changes in the criteria for the assessment and classification of waste as hazardous will come into force as of the 16th of July 2005. These changes are numerous and relatively complicated – however it must be emphasized that if your waste was classified as “special” it will not necessarily be classified as hazardous or if it was classified as “non-special” it will not necessarily be classified as non-hazardous.

 

ABOLITION OF PRE-NOTIFICATION
Although consignment notes will continue to be required there will no longer be a requirement for hazardous waste consignments to be pre-notified to the EA.

 

REPORTING AND RECORD KEEPING
The consignor (waste producer), carrier and consignee (waste receiver) will all be required to retain copies of the consignment notes. The consignee will make quarterly returns to the EA detailing all information on the consignment note as well as the appropriate disposal and recycling codes. The EA will charge the consignee for each consignment reported and expects a charge for this administration to be passed onto the producer. The consignee must also supply waste returns to the consignor detailing the same information as supplied to the EA within 30 days of receipt of the waste. These records must be kept by all parties for at least 3 years. We will be happy to advise you as to how to organise your records to ensure compliance.

 

FIXED PENALTY CHARGES
Fixed penalty fines of £300.00 per offence are being introduced by the EA for failure to :
1. notify premises
2. adequately complete consignment notes