2 WASTE LEGISLATION
9. The UK Government negotiates waste legislation
in the European Union, but, with the exception of most economic
instruments, national waste policy is devolved. Wales, Scotland
and Northern Ireland have their own waste strategies;[11]
this Report is mainly concerned with waste policy in England.
10. Government policy on waste is set out in Waste
Strategy 2000. Although this strategy deals with wider wastes,
its main focus is on diverting municipal waste from landfill in
order to meet the targets set out in the European Union's Landfill
Directive. The Landfill (England and Wales) Regulations 2002 are
intended to implement the requirements of the Landfill Directive
in England and Wales, and came into force in June 2002. They set
out a pollution control regime and set standards for managing
and monitoring landfill sites.
11. There is a great deal of legislation that touches
on waste and much of it is complex. We have not attempted to summarise
it all here but only some aspects that are particularly relevant
to the topics covered in our inquiry.
The Landfill Directive (Council Directive 99/31/EC)
The directive came into force 16 July 1999 and the deadline for implementation by Member States was 16 July 2001. Its most important requirements are:
1) The separation of landfills into three types: hazardous, non-hazardous or inert waste. This will mean that the three types of waste must be disposed of separately.
2) The development and introduction of waste acceptance criteria which define which types of waste can be accepted at each type of landfill.
3) The requirement to treat most wastes before landfill in order to minimise their undesirable properties.
4) The banning of certain types of waste from landfill including liquid wastes and waste which is 'in landfill conditions', explosive, corrosive, oxidising, highly flammable or flammable and infectious hospital and clinical waste. (Flammable and explosive wastes are not currently landfilled in the United Kingdom in any case.)
5) The reduction in the volume of biodegradable waste sent to landfill.
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12. Under the Environment Act 1995, the Environment Agency is
the regulator for waste management activities in England and Wales
but the local organisation of waste management varies with the
structure of local government. Unitary authorities are in charge
of all waste management functions. In two-tier authorities responsibility
is split between waste collection authorities (mainly district
councils in England) and waste disposal authorities (mainly county
councils in England). Waste collection authorities arrange for
the collection of waste and its delivery to sites specified by
disposal authorities and draw up and implement plans for recycling.
Waste disposal authorities do not carry out disposal themselves.
Instead they contract, after competitive tender, private operators
or local authority waste disposal companies (LAWDC) to do so.
Waste disposal authorities may establish LAWDC as 'arm's length'
companies. They must have regard to recycling in their tendering
and contract agreements for waste disposal. In addition, they
must pay waste collection authorities recycling credits for all
waste which the latter recycle. The value of the recycling credit
paid is equal to the saving the disposal authority makes through
not having to dispose of the recycled material.[12]
13. There are two further items of legislation currently that
are pertinent to this inquiry.
The Waste and Emissions Trading Bill, currently before Parliament,
would if passed create a system of tradable landfill allowances,
and would be "a very powerful driver" to reduce the
amount of waste sent to landfill.[13]
The European Union Regulation laying down health rules concerning
animal by-products not intended for human consumption (EC/1774/2002),
which came into force on 1 May 2003, has implications for the
composting industry because it specifies operating requirements
for plant, including compost plant, that treat catering waste.
11 Northern Ireland Executive,2002,
Waste Management Strategy for Northern Ireland, Welsh Assembly Government, 2002, Wise about waste: the national
waste strategy for Wales, Scottish Executive, 2003, The
National Waste Plan 2003. Back
12 Institute for European
Environmental Policy, 2000, Manual of Environmental Policy:
the European Union and Britain, chapter 5.1 Back
13 Q 392. Back
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