The Environment Agency (England and Wales) has now published a briefing note which makes it clear that it had changed its previous position that recovered material under the Quality Protocols scheme only ceases to be waste once it's been dispatched to the customer. It has decided that there shouldn't be any distinction made between processed material awaiting despatch and processed material which has already been despatched.
Vincent Brown, Head of Semple Fraser's expert legal team (website www.semplefraser.co.uk) has confirmed, as reported in the CIWM's journal for Waste and Resource Management Professionals published in July, that in law, there never was such a distinction.
The end of waste test needs only that you produce a marketable product that can be utilized in the same way as a normal ( ie, non-waste-derived ) product, with no worse environmental effects. Note the word "can" - not "is".
The legal test needs some evidence of a market to avoid sham production of claimed products that are simply stockpiled ( outside waste controls ) and never meant for consumption, but the method of physical delivery to the buyer wasn't needed.
And this approach is mirrored in Article six of the new Waste Framework Directive ( 2008 / 8 / EC ), which states that "certain mentioned waste shall cease to be waste when it has undergone a recovery operation and complies with express criteria to be developed" as to accord with the conditions, including that "a market or demand exists" for the substance or object.
The EA's new enlightened approach is to be welcomed and must come as very welcome news to many recyclers, as an indication of a more flexible and accommodating perspective to waste-derived products.
Showing posts with label Environment Agency inconsistency. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Environment Agency inconsistency. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
Much Needed Quality Protocol for Anaerobic Digestate Published
Anaerobic digestion technology is expected to become more attractive to UK investors following the publication of a long-awaited Quality Protocol aimed at cutting red tape governing solid residues from the process, known as digestate.
The revised Quality Protocol is available now on the Environment Agency website
WRAP, Defra and the Environment Agency have published a document which, subject to approval from the European Commission, will enable digestate which meets set criteria to be classified as a product rather than a waste. Such a move would mean the material would no longer be subject to waste management controls.
Anaerobic digestion is the process through which biodegradable waste is broken down by micro-organisms in the absence of oxygen. This process produces biogas, which can be used to generate energy, waste water and digestate.
The protocol is particularly significant because, despite government support for anaerobic digestion technology and its carbon benefits, there has been limited uptake of the technology in the UK to date - with marketing digestate one of the main sticking points.
Nick Bethel, policy advisor at the Environment Agency, told letsrecycle.com that the protocol had been designed to "bring value into the resource" and one of its purposes was to create a "climate for investment". Mr Bethel added the EA was "expecting to see further investment and more AD facilities being built" thanks to the re-classification of digestate from a waste to a product.
Requirements
The Quality Protocol, which has been revised since an original consultation in April (see letsrecycle.com story) lays out a number of requirements for AD operators who want to produce "quality digestate" from biodegradable waste.
Digestate must be produced using source-segregated materials listed in the Protocol, such as municipal food waste which has been collected separately and specified food and animal wastes.
Significantly, the Protocol designates end market for the digestate. Those markets are:
• Agriculture
• Forestry
• Soil and field grown horticulture
• Land restoration
• Soil manufacture and blending operations
• Land reclamation
In all cases the digestate must be used in a way that does not "pose a risk to the environment" and does "not compromise the future sustainable use of the soil to which they are applied".
Waste operators must also keep strict records showing showing that digestate meets the approved standards and the Quality Protocol. AD operators must also obtain certification from an approved body such as the Association for Organics Recycling.
Before publication as a final document in England and Wales, the draft Quality Protocol must be notified before the European Commission's Technical Standards committee, which may take up to six months.
During this period, the Environment Agency will continue to regulate the production and use of quality outputs from anaerobic digestion of source-segregated biodegradable waste in accordance with the interim regulatory position statement available on the Environment Agency website.
A spokesman for Defra commented: "The Government recognises the potential of food waste to generate energy in an environmentally friendly way. For example, we are investing £10 million over the next three years into new anaerobic digestion demonstration plants to encourage a number of industries including energy providers to take up this important new technology.
The revised Quality Protocol is available now on the Environment Agency website
WRAP, Defra and the Environment Agency have published a document which, subject to approval from the European Commission, will enable digestate which meets set criteria to be classified as a product rather than a waste. Such a move would mean the material would no longer be subject to waste management controls.
Anaerobic digestion is the process through which biodegradable waste is broken down by micro-organisms in the absence of oxygen. This process produces biogas, which can be used to generate energy, waste water and digestate.
The protocol is particularly significant because, despite government support for anaerobic digestion technology and its carbon benefits, there has been limited uptake of the technology in the UK to date - with marketing digestate one of the main sticking points.
Nick Bethel, policy advisor at the Environment Agency, told letsrecycle.com that the protocol had been designed to "bring value into the resource" and one of its purposes was to create a "climate for investment". Mr Bethel added the EA was "expecting to see further investment and more AD facilities being built" thanks to the re-classification of digestate from a waste to a product.
Requirements
The Quality Protocol, which has been revised since an original consultation in April (see letsrecycle.com story) lays out a number of requirements for AD operators who want to produce "quality digestate" from biodegradable waste.
Digestate must be produced using source-segregated materials listed in the Protocol, such as municipal food waste which has been collected separately and specified food and animal wastes.
Significantly, the Protocol designates end market for the digestate. Those markets are:
• Agriculture
• Forestry
• Soil and field grown horticulture
• Land restoration
• Soil manufacture and blending operations
• Land reclamation
In all cases the digestate must be used in a way that does not "pose a risk to the environment" and does "not compromise the future sustainable use of the soil to which they are applied".
Waste operators must also keep strict records showing showing that digestate meets the approved standards and the Quality Protocol. AD operators must also obtain certification from an approved body such as the Association for Organics Recycling.
Before publication as a final document in England and Wales, the draft Quality Protocol must be notified before the European Commission's Technical Standards committee, which may take up to six months.
During this period, the Environment Agency will continue to regulate the production and use of quality outputs from anaerobic digestion of source-segregated biodegradable waste in accordance with the interim regulatory position statement available on the Environment Agency website.
A spokesman for Defra commented: "The Government recognises the potential of food waste to generate energy in an environmentally friendly way. For example, we are investing £10 million over the next three years into new anaerobic digestion demonstration plants to encourage a number of industries including energy providers to take up this important new technology.
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