This section is intended only as a brief general guide to overall approaches to waste management regulation in England and Wales and is not a detailed summary of the law throughout the United Kingdom.

Special Waste Regulations 1996 SI 972/ Hazardous Waste Regulations 2005 SI 894

These regulations govern the movement of (Special/Hazardous) wastes from producer, via a collection/management chain, to the point of final disposal. Wastes are defined as ‘Special’ if they possess characteristics, which make them dangerous or hazardous so that they require special precautions in their handling and/or disposal.

From July 16th the introduction of the Hazardous Waste Regulations, will see the term ‘Special’ replaced by the term ‘Hazardous’.

Under the new regulations many wastes, previously noted as ‘special’, will now be classified as ‘hazardous’. Producers of wastes such as waste oil, used batteries, contaminated rags, used antifreeze, used brake fluid, oil filters or fluorescent tubes will now be classified as producers of hazardous waste.

The Regulations give the Environment Agency powers to oversee the production, movement and disposal of hazardous wastes and to regulate them throughout this process. Under the Hazardous Waste Regulations, all premises, with minor exemptions, at which production of hazardous waste occurs, must be registered. Each will have a unique Premises Code, which forms part of the Consignment Number that must appear on the consignment documentation. Hazardous wastes cannot be produced or disposed of without the required consignment note.

Hazardous wastes cannot be co-disposed with general commercial waste and producers will have to demonstrate that these wastes are being disposed of correctly. In addition they will have to introduce measures to properly segregate, handle and store their wastes as well as minimise the amount being sent to landfill.

It is illegal to mix different types of hazardous waste materials or mix with non-hazardous waste. The consequences of not complying with these regulations will be major fines, potential imprisonment and huge damage to reputations.

More information on the Hazardous Waste regulations can be found on the DEFRA website HERE.

A FAQ relating to the new Hazardous Waste regulation can also be found on the DEFRA website HERE .

List of Waste Regulations 2005 SI 895

These regulations are based upon the European Waste Catalogue (EWC) system for classifying wastes according to a comprehensive list which allocates 6 digit codes, plus asterisks, to wastes streams within a set of 20 chapter headings. These reflect the typical activities and sources that generate wastes, with special categories for wastes not otherwise captured by the scheme. Where a waste is asterisked, it must be handled as hazardous regardless of its actual characteristics – such codes are known as absolute entries and waste oil falls into this category.

A PDF of the European Waste Catalogue can be found by clicking HERE.

Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994 SI 1056

These regulations govern sites, which receive and/or process or dispose of wastes. They provide the basis for Environment Agency oversight and charging and are intended to ensure high standards of environmental protection.

Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control Regulation 2000 SI 1973

This is the basis for regulatory control that is taking over from Waste Management Licensing. In addition to governing waste processing activities, the PPC regulations extend the scope of control to include site environmental impacts such as noise, energy use, and emissions to air, water and land. They will ensure progressively higher standards of performance.

Landfill Regulations 2002 SI 1559

A complex set of regulations governing the management of waste by means of disposal to landfill. They set out demanding standards, Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC), for acceptance of hazardous waste into landfill and impose an absolute ban on the landfilling of certain wastes eg liquids and rubber tyres. The regulations prevent mixing of hazardous and non-hazardous wastes in the same site with the result that the number of landfills accepting hazardous wastes is much reduced. Industry has yet to adjust fully to the constraints imposed by these regulations.

Waste Incineration Regulations 2002 SI 2980

These regulations impose a variety of constraints on the burning of wastes by setting stringent limits on emissions to atmosphere, mandating combustion temperature and residence times and forbidding the use of waste as fuel during startup conditions. They also require continuous monitoring of emissions to atmosphere and, where necessary, use of abatement equipment to reduce emissions.

The net effect, for existing users of fuel derived from waste (as support fuel in coal fired power generation or drying crushed rock in quarries) is to render current applications unviable for either technical or economic reasons.

Waste Oil Directive EEC87/101

This 20 year old, European Directive established the principle of giving priority to the regeneration of used oil, to lubricant baseoil, where technical, organisational and economic constraints permit. In practice, within the United Kingdom, it has been difficult to sustain the economic viability of regeneration against alternative use as a fuel (see above) and unlike some other EU countries there has been no significant political will to underpin such activity.

End of Life Vehicle (ELV) Regulations 2003 SI 2635

Detailed rules governing the disposal of end of life vehicles and imposing increasingly stringent targets on the extent to which they must be recyclable and undergo recycling. The regulations require the removal and segregation of all fluids eg oil, brakefluid etc from a vehicle before it can be sent for fragmentation and metal recovery

Waste oil – can you handle it?

The Environment Agency has produced a guide for businesses producing waste oils

It explains how rules on waste oils will change, what they mean, and what you need to do with your waste oil in the future. The new rules give greater protection to the environment and health.

Please click here to open a PDF of this guide.