EUROPEAN INTEGRATED POLLUTION PREVENTION AND CONTROL BUREAU (EIPPCB)

Best Available Techniques (BAT) Reference Document for Waste Incineration

A final draft of this revised BREF document has been published.

DEPARTMENT FOR ENVIRONMENT, FOOD & RURAL AFFAIRS (DEFRA)

Draft Environment (Principles and Governance) Bill 2018

The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 requires that a bill is published by 28 September 2019 setting out principles for future environmental regulation and enforcement.

A copy of the draft Environment (Principles and Governance) Bill 2018 has now been published, alongside a supporting policy paper. This requires an environmental policy statement detailing how environmental principles will be discharged, the implementation of an environmental improvement plan and establishment of the Office for Environmental Protection.

The policy statement established, is required to explain how the following environmental principles will be applied in policymaking:

1. precautionary principle, so far as relating to the environment;
2. principle of preventative action to avert environmental damage;
3. principle that environmental damage should as a priority be rectified at source;
4. polluter pays principle;
5. principle of sustainable development;
6. principle that environmental protection requirements must be integrated into the definition implementation of policies and activities;
7. public access to environmental information;
8. public participation in environmental decision-making; and
9. access to justice in relation to environmental matters.

A draft of the statement is to be set out and consulted on before it can be adopted.

Policy where Environmental Principles will not Apply

The Bill states that the policy statement will not apply to policies concerning the armed forces, defence or national security; taxation, spending or allocation of resources within government; or any other matter specified in regulations made by the Secretary of State.

The statement may not require action to be taken where this would have no environmental benefit, or if the action would be disproportionate in any other way to the environmental benefit.

Environmental Improvement Plan

An environmental improvement plan lasting at least 15 years must set out steps the government intends to take to improve the natural environment and people’s enjoyment of it in England. Achievement of the objectives in the plan must be monitored, and annual reports are to be prepared on progress.

The Bill states that the existing 25 Year Environment Plan satisfies this requirement and must be reviewed by 31 January 2023. Subsequent plans must be reviewed five-yearly.

Enforcement

The draft Bill requires the establishment of the Office of Environmental Protection (OEP). The OEP would be required to monitor and report on the implementation of environmental law and progress against environmental improvement plans. The OEP is to advise on changes to environmental law.

The OEP is enforce possible breaches of environmental law by public authorities and may investigate complaints received. By way of notices the OEP may request information from public authorities and issue decisions requiring the authority to take specific action.

Our waste, our resources: A strategy for England

This strategy sets out how Defra intends to move towards a circular economy in England. The chapters in this document set out broad principles that will be applied. These principles, alongside significant commitments that may affect environmental legislation are described below:

• Sustainable production
  • Transposing the EU’s circular economy package of Directives into law.
  • Extended producer responsibility for packaging by 2023, requiring producers and suppliers of packaging to pay the full net cost of end-of-life management of packaging waste.
  • Consult on an extended producer responsibility regime for waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) by 2020. 
  • Considering extended producer responsibility for further products.
  • A tax on plastic packaging with less than 30% recycled plastic content by April 2022.
  • A commitment to maintain or exceed EU Ecodesign standards on products.
  • Establishing a strategy to support reuse and recycling of chemicals.
• Helping consumers choose and use more sustainable products
  • Potentially banning plastic products where there is a clear case and alternatives exist.
  • Work towards all plastic packaging placed on the market being recyclable, reusable or compostable by 2025.
• Measures to improve resource recovery and waste management
  • Introduce a deposit return scheme by 2023.
  • Ensuring a consistent set of dry recyclable materials collected from all households and businesses.
  • Apply standards for bio-based and biodegradable plastics.
  • Encourage the application of the waste hierarchy application to hazardous waste.
  • Improving the efficiency of energy from waste plants, including planning to supply heat generated to customers.
  • Eliminate all plastic waste by 2042 and all kinds of avoidable waste by 2050,
• Action to tackle waste crime, including reforming legislation
  • Legislation requiring mandatory digital recording of waste movements.
  • Consult on reforming the waste duty of care and carrier/broker/dealer licensing, hazardous and international shipment of waste regimes.
  • Consolidating carrier/broker/dealer licensing and applying technical competency requirements.
  • Reviewing technical competency requirements for persons managing and describing waste.
  • Considering financial disincentives and penalties for misdescription of waste.
  • Strengthening responsibilities of businesses along the resource chain and links between them.
  • Reforming 10 waste exemptions most identified with illegality (U1, U16, T4, T6, T8, T9, T12, D7, S1 and S2). Conditions will be amended or exemptions may be removed altogether.
  • Consider providing further Environment Agency enforcement powers.
• Cutting down on food waste
  • Consult on food waste prevention and mandatory targets for food waste prevention
  • Work towards eliminating food waste to landfill by 2030.
• Measures to achieve global leadership on resources and waste
• Opportunities for research and innovation
• How progress will be measured, monitored and evaluated.

In addition to the full document, an ‘at a glance’ summary document has been provided. The strategy is scheduled to be reviewed in 2023/24.

Food and drink waste hierarchy: deal with surplus and waste

This new statutory guidance document provides instructions on the application of the waste hierarchy by waste producers, manufacturers and retailers.

DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENERGY & INDUSTRIAL STRATEGY

Heat networks: ensuring sustained investment and protecting consumers

This document sets out how the government intends to support the deployment of heat networks.

Combined heat and power quality assurance (CHPQA) standard

A revised version of Guidance Note 44 (GN44) has been issued (issue 7) which updates the energy efficiency requirements.

ENVIRONMENT AGENCY

SR2018 No 9: Specified Generator, Tranche B low risk, base load operation between 0 - 0.9 MWth

This standard rule permit, which concerns certain specified generators consuming natural gas subject to the medium combustion plant regime, has been revised. The permit now enables the use of secondary abatement to meet the limits set.

Land and groundwater remediation deployment form

This new document details an application form (MPP2) which must be submitted before a mobile plant for the treatment of soils and contaminated material, substances or produces can be deployed to a site.

Regulatory Position Statements (RPSs)

RPS 33: Environmental permits for ‘orphan’ waste effluent treatment plants

This RPS now applies to both hazardous and non-hazardous waste. The review date has also been extended to 30 September 2021.

RPS 161: Using whole waste tyres in construction

This RPS, which will be reviewed by 31 March 2021, authorises certain uses of waste tyres in construction without the requirement for an environmental permit.

Man fined for breaching environmental permit

A company director and his company have been fined for breaches at the SIS Plastics waste management facility in Stockton-on-Tees.

The Environmental Agency attended the site on 10 May 2017 where they found a number of breaches. Enforcement notices were served, which included the removal of all waste which was either sludge or liquid in nature and to dispose of it properly. This was met. Another further notice required all waste to be stored and treated properly, including moving external inside, into a secure container or off site by 23 June 2018.

Further visits on 19 April 2018 and 25 June 2018 found that there was still a risk of pollution due to fire, and large amounts of waste was still being stored incorrectly. During a visit in June, Mr Walsh was shown to exhibit abusive behaviour, preventing the officers from inspecting the premises.

The Director had also failed to tell the Environmental Agency about the breakdown of the granulator, which is a piece of equipment central to the site’s operation.

Breaches

Glen Norman Walsh pleaded guilty to three offences: two regarding environmental permit breaches and one regarding the obstruction of an Environmental Agency officer

Penalty

Glen Norman Walsh was fined £1,173 and ordered to pay legal costs and a victim surcharge amounting to £4,790.

Illegal waste site in Swansea cleared

An illegal waste site in Swansea docks, which threatened to pollute the local environment, has been cleared after action by Natural Resources Wales.

At its peak, the site is understood to have contained 31,000 tonnes of illegally stored waste. Waste materials included baled solid, recovered fuel and non-recyclable household waste. The waste was only supposed to be temporarily stored by the companies EPS (Alternative Fuels) Ltd and Environmental Practical Solutions Ltd prior to export.

Natural Resources Wales took legal action in 2015, which prohibited the site from taking any more waste and required the companies to clear the backlog. However, in 2017 both companies went into liquidation leaving around 6,000 tonnes of uncleared waste.

Responsibility

With both companies dissolved, the landowner, Associated British Ports agreed to take responsibility for the remaining waste. This waste has since been removed.

Notice of liability served under the Environmental Damage regime after waste materials leads to River Witham pollution

A notice of liability under the Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) Regulations 2015 has been served to a company in Lincolnshire. The company was found to have caused the worst river pollution incident ever recorded in this county.

Omex Agriculture Limited, an agricultural and fertiliser manufacturer, is understood to have polluted the River Witham with ammonia in March 2018. This affected the river between Bardney and the Wash. The substance severely impacted the condition of the river and its ecosystem, leading to the loss of at least 100,000 fish.

The Environment Agency worked to clean up the pollution and mitigate the damage caused by the release. Extensive restocking was carried out.

Notice

Under the Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) Regulations 2015, a notice of liability allows the Environment Agency to require a polluter to take steps to remediate the damage done by a pollution incident. This is the second such notice issued by this regulator to date.

The notice requires the company to develop and submit a proposal outlining plans for repairing the environmental damage caused by the ammonia.

The Environmental Agency is continuing to investigate the circumstances of the pollution, and further action is likely to be considered once the investigation is complete.