Do you Know your green responsibilities

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Do you Know your green responsibilities?

• Tania Tucker
• Senior Environment Officer
• Environment Agency

2
Overview

• Reasons for regulation / why regulate?
• Overview of the current legislation potentially
  impacting your business
• Future legislative developments
• Questions

3
Regulation - advantages disadvantages

• Disadvantages
• Uncertainty and complexity
• Compliance (costs resources)
• Reputation
• Insurance costs
• Risk of prosecution

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Regulation - advantages disadvantages

• Advantages
• Level playing field
• Protects the environment
• Compliance can reduce insurance costs
• Compliance can reduce reputational risk
• Compliance can potentially increase efficiency

5
Regulation - advantages disadvantages

• Hopefully prevent uncontrolled dumping and
  pollution

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Current Legislation - Duty of Care

• What is the duty of care?
• Who does it apply to?
• Why have a duty of care system for waste?

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Current Legislation - Duty of Care

• Relevant Legislation
• Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act
  1990
• Duty of Care Regulations 1992
• Landfill regulations 2002
• List Of Waste (England) Regulations 2005
• (Defra have announced a review of the duty of
  care - a consultation paper is due out in 2006)

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Current Legislation - Duty of Care

• Duty of Care A Code of Practice
• Is made under s.34 of the Environmental
  Protection Act 1990
• Provides statutory guidance for persons who
  produce, import, hold, transport, treat or
  dispose of controlled waste
• Can be cited in Court to demonstrate compliance
  or otherwise with the duty of care
• Is available on-line at
• www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/management/doc
  /index.htm

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Current Legislation - Duty of Care

• Key provisions of Duty of Care
• Holders of controlled waste must prevent the
  escape of waste
• Holders of controlled waste must ensure their
  waste is passed to an authorised person
• Upon transferring waste, both parties must
  receive and sign a waste transfer note
• Waste transfer notes must be kept for a minimum
  of 2 years and be produced upon request
• A written description of the waste must be passed
  to the new holder - sufficient to allow the waste
  to be properly managed

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Current Legislation - Duty of Care

• Transfer Notes
• Must be kept for a minimum of 2 years
• Must be produced upon request
• Different to hazardous waste consignment notes
• Authorities can serve an fixed penalty notice for
  300 for failure to produce a transfer note
• Can act as proof waste was passed onto an
  authorised person if waste is subsequently
  flytipped.

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Current Legislation - Duty of Care

• Householder Duty of Care
• Introduced in November 2005
• Purpose is to prevent householders passing waste
  to potential flytippers
• Requires householders to take reasonable measures
  to ensure they pass waste to an authorised person
• Reasonable measures likely to include evidence
  that the person was registered as a waste carrier

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Current Legislation - Waste Carriers

• Why did the legislation develop?
• Private Members Bill introduced by Joan Ruddock
  MP in the late 1980s
• As an attempt to prevent flytipping of builders
  waste

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Current Legislation - Waste Carriers

• Large-scale flytipping

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Current Legislation - Waste Carriers

• Relevant legislation
• Control of Pollution (Amendment) Act 1989
• Controlled Waste (Registration of Carriers and
  Seizure of Vehicles) Regulations 1991
• Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994
• Clean Neighbourhoods Environment Act 2005
• Waste Management (England Wales) Regulations
  2006

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Current Legislation - Waste Carriers

• Exemptions and Exclusions
• The exclusions are when controlled waste is
  transported-
• Within the same premises
• from a country or territory outside Great Britain
  (GB) into GB
• By air or sea of controlled waste from a place
  inside GB to a place outside GB

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Current Legislation - Waste Carriers

• Exemptions
• Waste collection and waste disposal authorities
• A Charity
• A voluntary organisation
• The producer of the controlled waste in question
  except where it is building or demolition waste.

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Current Legislation - Waste Carriers

• The Environment Agencys role
• Provide advice to public, business, and carriers
• Receive and process applications
• A registration costs 140 for 3 years
• Maintain a public register
• Register of professional exempt carriers
• Revocation of registrations

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Current Legislation - Waste Carriers

• To check if a carrier is registered call
• 08708 506 506
• The online public register is at
  http//www2.environment-agency.gov.uk/epr/index.as
  p

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Current Legislation - Waste Carriers

• Future changes to the carrier registration system
• Consultation on a system change through
  provisions of Clean Neighbourhoods and
  Environment Act 2005?
• Fairer charging more robust system?
• Keep a watching brief on Defra website and waste
  journals

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Current Legislation Hazardous Waste

• Relevant legislation
• The Hazardous Waste (England) Regulations 2005
• List of Wastes (England) Regulations 2005
• What has changed?
• Special Waste Regulations have been replaced
• It has broadened the types of waste that are now
  classed as hazardous

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Current Legislation Hazardous Waste

• How might it effect your business
• You may be required to register as a hazardous
  waste producer
• A registration is required before hazardous waste
  is removed from your premises.
• A premises registration will last you 12 months
• How do you register you premises?

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Current Legislation Hazardous Waste

• Registration
• There are different methods available for
  notifying premises
• On line- suitable for relatively small numbers of
  notifications- 18
• Phone - suitable for small numbers- 23
• Electronic - Via a disk sent to us or via email-
  18
• Paper application - 28

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Current Legislation Hazardous Waste

• Exemptions from the need to register
• If your premises is one of the following types
  and produces less than 200kg of hazardous waste
  in any 12 month period it will be exempt
• Office premises,
• Shop premises,
• Premises used for agriculture,
• Premises that waste electrical and electronic
  equipment is collected,
• Dental, Veterinary or medical practice,
• Any ship

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Current Legislation Hazardous Waste

• Where to go for further help and guidance
• For information on how to register as a hazardous
  waste producer. http//www.environment-agency.gov.
  uk/subjects/waste/1019330/1217981/1218079/?lang_e
  
• Contact us by phone [phone]
• For information on how to determine if your waste
  is hazardous http//www.environment-agency.gov.uk
  /subjects/waste/1019330/1217981/1384307/
• Further information on consignment procedures
• http//www.environment-agency.gov.uk/subjects/was
  te/1019330/1217981/1424994/1425125/?lang_e

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Pollution Prevention

• How not to store fuel or liquids

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Pollution Prevention

• Another example of poor practice

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Pollution Prevention

• Tanks sited in a high risk area

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Pollution Prevention

• Good practice

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Pollution Prevention
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Pollution Prevention

• The inevitable results ...

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Producer Responsibility

• The Producer Responsibility Obligations
  (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2005
• Aims to increase the recovery and recycling of
  packaging waste
• The Regulations place an obligation on certain
  businesses to register with us or via a
  compliance scheme to recycle/recover specified
  tonnages of packaging waste each year.

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Producer Responsibility

• If you have a turnover of 2 million or above AND
• Handle over 50 tonnes of packaging materials
• Manufacture raw materials used for packaging
• Convert raw materials into packaging
• Pack or fill the packaging with finished goods
• Sell the packaging
• Sell the packaged goods to the final user or
  consumer
• Import packaging or packaged goods.

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Producer Responsibility

• Call the Free rider hotline [phone]
• Further information call our National Waste
  Registration Unit on 0207 091 4036 or email
  WasteRegistrationsHelp_at_environment-agency.gov.uk

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More information

• Duty of care
• http//www.netregs.gov.uk/netregs/275207/275430/74
  7582/752973/?lang_e
• http//www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/manageme
  nt/doc/index.htm
• Waste carrier checks
• 08708 506506 or on line at
• http//www2.environment-agency.gov.uk/epr/index.a
  sp
• Hazardous waste
• http//www.environment-agency.gov.uk/subjects/was
  te/1019330/1217981/?version1lang_e

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More information

• Producer responsibility
• http//www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/444
  304/444641/595811/136872/
• WEEE
• http//www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/4442
  17/444663/1106248/1106255/
• Pollution Prevention
• http//www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/4442
  51/444731/ppg/

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Any Questions?

• Any Questions ?