News - Updated 23 November 2007
Pre-Treatment
for Non-Hazardous Wastes
Most of our customers have now put pre-treatment procedures
in place, or are sending wastes to our Recycling Facility
rather than landfill. But once again, ignorance of this
important change seems to have been widespread, despite
sending out letters to everyone before the deadline!
Soils and Other Construction/Demolition Wastes –
How We Can Help
In the past, source segregation was used as pre-treatment
for hazardous wastes such as contaminated soil). Under the
new rules, source segregation is going to be harder to apply.
It will only be accepted if both non-hazardous and hazardous
materials are being removed.
So if only non-hazardous material is being moved, it
needs pre-treatment. Alab Environmental Services Ltd have
installed a trommel at our South Tees Recycling Facility
(STRF) so that you don’t have to do delay shifting
material off your site. You can send it to the recycling
facility where it can be pre-treated. We’ll recover
whatever we can, and only the unwanted fractions will be
sent on to landfill.
Contact Mark Howard (07890 567899) for more details.
A reminder of the key points of the legislation:
The Aim of Pre-Treatment
The primary aims of treatment reflect the philosophy of
the Landfill Directive. It is intended to:
- reduce the amount of waste landfilled
- reduce the impact when it is landfilled
The Three Point Test
The key to approving a treatment method is the three-point
test. All three points must be satisfied for all of the
waste to have been treated:
- It must be a physical, thermal, chemical or biological
process including sorting.
- It must change the characteristics of the waste.
- It must do so in order to:
(a) reduce its volume; or
(b) reduce its hazardous nature; or
(c) facilitate its handling; or
(d) enhance recovery.
Unlike hazardous waste, no waste acceptance criteria are
applied to non-hazardous waste.
But you must have proved that it is non-hazardous
in an initial Level 1 characterisation exercise.
Responsibility
Once again, responsibility is placed on the landfill operator,
who must be sure that the necessary pre-treatment has been
done, and is appropriate for the waste. It’s likely
that, as with hazardous waste, this will be the Environment
Agency’s primary focus for assessing compliance.
The waste producer is ultimately responsible for the treatment,
though they can ask their waste management company to actually
do it.
Original document available from the Environment Agency:
phone 08708 506 506
Download it from: http://publications.environment-agency.gov.uk/pdf/GEHO0207BLWJ-e-e.pdf?lang=_e
Whilst we take every care to ensure the accuracy of
items included, we cannot take responsibility for errors
or omissions. |
