Yesterday (15 January) the Environmental Services Association (ESA), a wastes management trade association, published a report calling for direct action to be taken to improve the way hazardous waste is handled and treated in England and Wales.
In its ‘Raising Standards’ report, the ESA appeals to Defra and the Environment Agency to work with the industry to meet the aims set out in the government’s 2010 Hazardous Waste Strategy. It also makes recommendations for improving the handling and treatment of particular types of hazardous waste, including air pollution control residues, contaminated soils and oily sludges.
The report makes four central suggestions for future action:
- Stronger promotion and enforcement of the waste hierarchy guidance for hazardous waste;
- A review by the Environment Agency of permits for hazardous waste treatment to make sure they use best available technology;
- Better quality data on hazardous waste movements and treatment to achieve an accurate mass balance;
- EU-level action to combat movements of hazardous waste within the EU that contravene the waste hierarchy and proximity principle.
Alex Gazulla from the hazardous waste management and disposal company Tradebe and chairman of ESA’s Hazardous Waste Strategy Group commented: “The government’s 2010 Strategy for Hazardous Waste Management says all the right things, and ESA members are fully behind it. But there is evidence that it is not taking effect on the ground, and that some of the UK’s hazardous waste is not being handled at state of the art facilities, as the strategy intended. This undermines the investment ESA member companies have made in best available technologies for dealing with hazardous wastes, and if unchecked could pose risks to the environment.”
Matthew Farrow, ESA’s Director of Policy, added: “ESA members are concerned about the way the hazardous waste treatment market is operating, and through ESA they have taken the lead in doing something about it. We funded the research which led to the production of today’s report, and we have brought the issues to the attention of the regulators.
“Defra and the [Environment] Agency have expressed a willingness to work with us to address the issues we have identified, and we look forward to working with them to come up with solutions.”
Read the ESA’s ‘Raising Standards: Making Defra’s hazardous waste strategy a reality’ report.
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