New Controls on Agricultural Waste
Regulations made on 31st March apply waste management controls to agricultural waste for the first time in England and Wales.
The Waste Management (England and Wales) Regulations 2006 (known as the Agricultural Waste Regulations) will come into force on 15 May 2006 and will apply the same controls on agricultural waste that have applied to all other sectors of industry for many years.
About 400,000 tonnes of agricultural waste is produced each year. It includes old pesticide containers, silage wraps, tyres, batteries and oil. Manure and slurry are not a waste when used as a fertiliser. Farmers will have 5 basic options for dealing with their waste, which can be used on their own or in combination:
• Store their waste on-farm for up to 12 months.
• Take their waste for recycling or disposal off-farm at a licensed site.
• Get an authorised waste contractor to take their waste away.
• Register license exemptions with the Environment Agency to recycle or dispose of their waste on-farm. Farmers can register at any stage during the first 12 months of the Regulations. License exemptions are free for agricultural waste.
• Apply to the Environment Agency for a waste management license or a landfill permit to recycle or dispose of their waste on-farm. For most farmers obtaining a landfill permit for their farm dump will not be a viable option because of the engineering requirements and costs involved.
There are transitional arrangements for most other on-farm recycling and disposal activities.
The full text of the Regulations is available from the Office of Public Sector Information website:
http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2006/uksi_20060937_en.pdf
Source: http://www.defra.gov.uk (accessed 03/04/06)