&Views

Dave Dingle
MSc, MRSC, CChem, MCIWM, MCIWEM
Environmental Controller, Cannon Hygiene Ltd
In April the long awaited Hazardous Waste (England
and Wales) Regulations 2005 and The List of Wastes
(England) Regulations 2005 were published, having
been laid before Parliament in late March to be
implemented ahead of the General Election. The
equivalent Regulations for Wales have been delayed
but, according to DEFRA, will be identical to those in
England, with the systems for both England and
Wales hopefully running seamlessly.
The new Regulations introduce to England and Wales
what is largely a completely new management
regime for hazardous waste implementing the
requirements of the EC Hazardous Waste Directive,
91/689/EC. Whilst, for years, we have had references
to hazardous waste in associated legislation, finally
we have a complete system within the UK with
hazardous waste defined in our own domestic
legislation. This differs elsewhere in the UK as
detailed in the article on the previous page.
Following the usual round of consultation by the
Department of the Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs (DEFRA) and the Welsh Assembly and
responses from the many interested parties including
SMDSA, the Regulations introduce further relaxation
of the legislative requirements in addition to those
originally proposed. These will potentially benefit
smaller waste producers such as dental practices, GP’s,
and veterinary practices. However they also bring
new hazardous wastes, systems and procedures which
will result in those receiving hazardous waste for
storage or disposal having additional responsibilities
and likelihood of increased costs. The revised
charging mechanisms also increase the costs of
consignment of hazardous wastes, particularly for
those collected on Carriers Rounds, as much of the
waste in the healthcare sector is. Implementation of
the Regulations will takes place in two stages over
the three months between 16 April and 16 July 2005.
A summary of Frequently Asked Questions on the
Regulations can be found on the SMDSA and DEFRA
web sites. Other DEFRA and Environment Agency
guidance on specific aspects is detailed below and can
be sourced through the SMDSA web site, with further
guidance still to be published.
The Changes
The main de-regulatory aspects compared to the
previous system are:
■ Removal of the need for pre-notification of
hazardous wastes to The Environment Agency
■ Removal of the requirement to send a Deposit
Copy to The Environment Agency confirming
receipt of each consignment of waste at the
storage and/or disposal site.
■ Removal of the requirement to pay The Agency
in advance for individual Consignment Codes.
The features of the special waste system retained for
hazardous waste, albeit with some changes, are
■ Consignment notes for each collection
■ Copies required to be completed at each stage of
the waste movement and retained by the
Producer, Carrier and Consignee (i.e. those
receiving the waste)
■ Provision of information on consignments to The
Environment Agency (although in a different way
to previously, as outlined below)
■ Charges for each consignment of hazardous
waste collected (although at different rates).
■ Procedure for rejection of consignments
■ Prohibition from mixing different categories of
hazardous waste or with non-hazardous wastes.
The new and additional requirements brought in by
the HWR include:
■ Changes to the way hazardous waste is defined
■ Requirement for producers of hazardous wastes
to register premises to The Environment Agency
(unless exempt – see below)
■ Additional information required in the
Consignment Note e.g. Producer Premises Code,
Carriage of Dangerous Goods information, SIC
(Standard Industrial Classification) Code.
■ Confirmation of deposit at the receiving site
(whether transfer station or final disposal) to be
provided to the Producer
■ Quarterly returns to The Environment Agency by
those receiving wastes (consignees)
■ Fixed penalties where offences are committed
Hazardous Waste Definition
From 16th July, hazardous waste is defined
specifically by those wastes having an asterisked
entry in The List of Wastes Regulations or any other
waste which the Secretary of State determines as
hazardous. The List itself is a UK adoption of the
European Waste Catalogue, EWC.
It is important to avoid confusion and note that
although Schedules 1, 2 & 3 to the Regulations list
categories of wastes, constituents, and properties of
waste which may render them hazardous, they do
not need to be referred to in considering whether
waste is hazardous. Only the List of Wastes needs to
be considered for that purpose and then the only
evaluation of whether a waste is hazardous, or not, is
dependent upon whether it is an absolute entry (i.e.
waste which is always hazardous) or a mirror entry
(i.e. dependent upon an evaluation of the waste).
The criteria for consideration of mirror entries is then
detailed in those Regulations. The main reason for
the Schedules is to provide a mechanism if The
Secretary of State wishes to determine other waste as
hazardous. Schedule 3 may need to be referenced for
a list of hazardous properties when completing
consignment notes.
New waste types are now classified as hazardous such
as fluorescent tubes, TV’s, PC monitors but the main
change in relation to healthcare wastes is that all
prescription only medicines are no longer
automatically hazardous. Only Cytotoxic or
Cytostatic medicines meet the criteria. The
Environment Agency have produced a document
entitled ‘Interpretation of the definition and
classification of hazardous waste technical guidance
- WM2’ as guidance on the classification of hazardous
waste, although we understand that this is to be
reviewed by July. The current version is available
from the SMDSA web site, as will any consultation on
the process.
The potential for clinical waste to be hazardous due
to its infectious nature was already included in the
Special Waste Regulations and remains a feature of
these Regulations. With a change of criteria and
interpretation rests the potential for a majority of
clinical wastes to become hazardous and the division
into hazardous and non-hazardous categories is
currently under furious debate with both DEFRA and
The Agency.
As a result, publication of the new NHS guidance
document ‘The Safe Management of Healthcare
Waste’ has been further delayed. In light of these
delays, details on which clinical wastes are hazardous
will be featured in the next issue of our Newsletter.
Notification of premises
Each individual premises in England and Wales where
hazardous waste is to be produced or removed from
after 16th July 2005 must be notified to The Agency
before that waste is removed, unless exempt from
notification. This can be effected by either the
Producer, a Holder or a Consignor (i.e. someone who
removes, or causes removal) and can be made from
16th April. The Agency intend to be able to accept
notification by post (from 16th April), telephone &
internet (from 3rd May) and by electronic data
transfer or on disk (from 9th June). The charges for
each notification are scaled with the intention of
discouraging the use of paper notification and to
reflect the processing costs of different methods.
These have been initially set at £28 (paper), £23
(telephone), and £18 (other electronic formats). In
future charges will be set as part of The Agency’s
Annual Charging Scheme and in common with all
other charges can only be expected to increase. The
Agency will issue a code number when a premises is
registered (known as a ‘Premises Code’) which will be
required on Consignment Notes. The Premises Code
is valid for 12 months and hence will need to be
renewed annually. Although the Regulations in
Wales are not yet in place, The Agency will be able to
process and issue Codes for premises in Wales from
16th April.
The electronic format to be used for Premises
Notification is still to be specified by The Agency but
must be used so there is little scope for variation. As
this newsletter went to press and in spite of dialogue
between the Agency, SMDSA and other Associations,
details of The Agency format are not expected until
June. Clearly there may be substantial IT work to be
carried to modify waste contractors systems to match
the Agency format if bulk registration of Producers
Premises is to be carried out before 16th July, and
further delays are likely to cause chaos as the
deadline approaches.
DEFRA issued ‘Hazardous Waste Regulations Interim
Guidance on Premises Notification’ in January. Hard
copies can be obtained by telephoning 08459 556000
(DEFRA Publications) and this can also be found on
the SMDSA web site together with the Agency’s Site
Premises Registration Guide.
Exemption from premises notification applies if
■ Less than a total 200kg of all hazardous wastes is
removed from the premises in any 12 month
period with no limit on the number of
consignments, and
■ Removal is only by a registered or exempt carrier
of waste, and
■ The premises are included in a list of industry
types specified in the Regulations
The main types of premises exempted are shops,
offices, dental, veterinary or medical practices,
premises listed in Section (a) to (e) of the
Environmental Protection Act 1990 or Schedule 1 to
The Controlled Waste Regulations 1992 (examples
include prisons, residential and nursing homes). For
healthcare premises the total of all types of
hazardous wastes will include TV/PC monitors,
fluorescent tubes and is not restricted to waste
arising from the clinical activities. Exemption is only
from premises notification - consignment notes will
still be required when hazardous waste is removed
from the site.
After 16th July 2005, it will be an offence to collect
hazardous wastes from premises unless they have
been notified or are exempt. Waste Contractors will
therefore require proof of registration or some form
of assurance that a premises is exempt, unless the
producer has asked the contractor to register them.
We would expect that most Waste Management
Contractors will offer this service to customers but
may make an administration charge.
The Agency are required to provide details of
existing Premises’ Registration, and in time this will
be available on their web site, although not
immediately. Fortunately The Agency will carry out
these responsibilities through one centralised
location at their National Call Centre (08708 502858)
in Rotherham, and forms for paper registration are
available from them now or can be downloaded
from our web site.
Consignment Notes and Charges
Although the requirements for pre-notification and
provision of proof of receipt at the waste
management site (Deposit Copies) to The Agency no
longer apply, consignment notes will still be required
when any hazardous waste is removed from 16 July
2005 onwards. The format of the consignment note
is similar to the Special Waste Consignment Note, but
with added information such as Premises Code (if not
exempt), Carriage of Dangerous Goods information
and SIC (Standard Industrial Classification) Code for
each producer. More information is now required for
each type of waste collected and each individual EWC
code. The Consignment Note number will no longer
be obtained from The Agency but will be generated
by the consignor according to an Agency Coding
Standard. Producer (and Consignor if different),
Carrier, Consignee and possibly a Producer
Confirmation copy may be required. There are new
procedures where more than one Carrier is involved
in the movement (now confusingly referred to as a
Schedule of Carriers).
Where multiple collections are carried out and
delivered to the same Consignee (previously referred
to as Carriers Schedules) these are now referred to as
Multiple Collections with considerably different
requirements including a summary Consignment
Note for the multiple collection and a separate
Annex for each Producer which is considerably more
detailed than the existing Carriers
Schedule. Unlike the previous
Carriers Rounds, there is
no restriction on the
time which can be
taken for a multiple
collection without
delivery to the
Consignee, other than
reference to delivering
‘without undue delay’.
The charges for each
consignment are then
raised by invoicing
Consignees on the basis of
quarterly returns made to the
Agency.
Records and Returns
As outlined above, there are a number of new
requirements to provide returns and keep records:
■ Consignee returns to Producers/Consignors
■ Quarterly returns to The Environment Agency by
Consignees
■ Registers of consignment notes and Consignee
returns by Producers/Consignors
■ Registers of waste held at waste management and
disposal facilities, in relation to the locations of
storage or disposal
When the waste is accepted at the waste
management site, the Consignee must send to the
Producer either a copy of the Consignment Note
confirming receipt, or a summary detailing all loads
delivered from that Producer, in either case within
one month of the end of each quarter. Unlike formats
for Premises Notification or Consignee Quarterly
Returns which are specified by the Agency, these are
already detailed in a Schedule to the Regulations.
The quarterly returns of consignments made to the
Agency are then used to determine the Consignment
charges to be paid in each quarter for which an
invoice is sent to the Consignee. As with Premises
Notification, the charges depend upon the way in
which the quarterly return is made – again
discouraging the use of paper -.£19 for each single
and £10 for each part of a multiple consignment; or
if made electronically £10 for each single and £5 for
each part of a multiple consignment. Overall these
charges represent significant increases. Agency
guidance on providing Quarterly
Consignee returns and the
specified format have
still to evolve as they
will not be required
until 31st October 2005.