Letter from Biffa Waste Services Ltd to
the Environment Agency 24 May 2001
RE: REFRIGERATION
EQUIPMENT
At a recent ICER meeting Maria Nolan from the
DETR basically suggested that an effective framework for enforcement
would be developed once industry had invested in the necessary
equipment to reprocess fridges which offend the Ozone Depleting
Substances Regulations. She also referred to the ambiguity in
the regulations in classifying CFCs in foams in the same context
as CFCs in the fluid coolant pipes. On the other hand companies
like us and others in the industry are in no position to gain
Board support for what amounts to a £10 million investment
programme without a guarantee of a clear enforcement strategy
as far as free riders are concerned—particularly those that
come in the form of open access to car fragmentation plants. Personally
I believe this nitpicking on the regulations is a total irrelevance
given the overall objective to limit emissions which are contributing
to a problem which many believe is far more immediate than that
of global warming.
We are not, anyway, in a position to make any
decision to invest in plants until the Agency is able to crystallise
its thinking on the compliance performance standards required—in
much the same way as your recent admirable piece of work on tyres
in cement kilns. With this in mind I have written to Jim Currie—who
I bumped into at the recent St Andrew's Awards Ceremony (also
attended by Jacquie McGlade, Sara Parkin and Gareth Wardell).
Can I therefore suggest a gentle nudge for agreement on the draft
specification we have forwarded as a basis for action. The lead
time on obtaining the necessary planning consents and licensing
consents needed to trigger a decision to purchase are now almost
certain to overrun the available six months we have prior to the
directive requirements being formalised into the Environmental
Protection Act as UK law.
An alternative interpretation is that we are
going to miss the deadlines and thus open ourselves up to prosecution
by the EC enforcement team. Having raised this issue formally
five months ago we believe it is only reasonable to expect positive
movement sooner rather than later. We are desperate to make the
necessary applications for planning and licensing consent but
we can't make a decision on the type specification on the equipment
until you tell us what the standards are. Help!
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