Members of the waste and resource industry have tentatively welcomed the new Material Recovery Facility (MRF) Regulations, which have been laid in Parliament today (12 February).

Speaking of behalf of the Environmental Services Association (ESA) – which represents around half of all UK MRF operators – Director General Barry Dennis said: "We are pleased that the regulations build on ESA’s previous work on a MRF Code of Practice to set high standards for sampling across the industry, are mandatory and will be enforced by the Environment Agency.

"The transparency requirements in the regulations will reward the commitment to quality shown by ESA members by highlighting good performing MRFs."

He added that the ESA will now work with government and the Environment Agency (EA), as well as relevant stakeholders, to make sure the regulations are "well implemented, and that the reported information is used effectively".

"The MRF Regulations are part of a broader ambition to promote high-quality recycling along the entire supply chain", he said.

The regulations were also welcomed by the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM), whose Chief Executive Steve Lee, said: “We welcome the new MRF regulations as a good starting point in the drive for higher quality and we would expect responsible operators to be using these as the minimum standard of good practice...

“In setting out what is effectively a monitoring and reporting regime, however, the regulations fall short of providing the robust quality blueprint that some in the industry had hoped for.

“Quality underpins the value of recycling and resource management to all parties in our industry: local authorities, the waste industry and UK business. CIWM is disappointed, therefore, that the government has missed an opportunity to tie the new regulations more closely into the requirement for ‘high quality recycling’ in the Waste Framework Directive. This could have provided a more definitive framework for those looking to demonstrate that they are achieving high quality recycling."

The Resource Association (RA), which represents the reprocessors that often handle material after it has been sorted at a MRF, also commented, with Chief Executive Ray Georgeson saying that he was pleased government has recognised the "need to make improvements in this critical part of the recycling supply chain".

Regulations ‘still fall a long way short’

However, he said that the association felt the regulations "still fall a long way short", commenting: "The failure to fully grasp the quality nettle, after such a long gestation and consultation period leaves us disappointed at the gap between the words of ministers and officials about supporting UK reprocessors and boosting the green economy and the reality of their delivery."

He also voiced concern that the regulations may also "be so weak and easy to circumvent by rogue operators that they will not necessarily deliver confidence to reprocessors and the wider market that the data is worthwhile and useful", and called on the EA to "come forward quickly with the proposed consultation on charging and permitting, and the practical application of guidance on sampling and monitoring of MRF operations".

Georgeson concluded: "Robust implementation of weak regulations is not ideal, but it will go some way to bringing just a little confidence to the current approach of government."

RA Chairman Andy Doran added that the regulations form an "essential element" if local authorities are going to be able to demonstrate that the output of their co-mingled collections can, through MRF sorting, "emerge as equivalent to source separated", thus complying with the English and Welsh legislation transposing the separate collection requirements of the revised Waste Framework Directive.

He said: "Without a genuinely robust sampling and inspection regime, there are serious questions about whether the MRF Regulations as laid can actually assist in delivering the evidence local councils will need to demonstrate this compliance if they seek to continue to co-mingle after 1 January 2015.

"When we meet the [Resource] Minister later this month, we will be seeking his reassurance that his department [Defra] will exercise vigilance in monitoring the impact of the regulations. This is by no means ‘job done’ on recyclate quality – far from it."

The quality of recyclate coming out of MRFs was also touched on by Andy Moore, MD of UK Recyclate, who said: "These regulations seem to be little more than an attempt to provide legal cover for the poor quality of recyclable material that comes out of most MRFs. Without effective implementation, it will be too easy for rogue operators to game the system and pull wool over the eyes of the Environment Agency.

"The input and output sampling levels and their frequency are disappointing. To ensure that there is any meaning attached to them, the sampling must be backed by robust inspections, including unannounced visits by the Environment Agency. Only this can provide confidence to the marketplace that MRFs are really producing high quality recycling. If those operating co-mingled collections believe that they do achieve this, then they should be prepared to back such an approach.

"Sadly, I fear the government will not have the courage to do this, and instead of making a real difference to the economy and environment by driving up quality, these regulations are no more than an attempt to plaster over a crack in a key aspect of the UK implementation of rWFD. Without genuine transparency there is no way the government can claim that MRFs achieve the goals of high-quality recycling. This should be a real concern to waste companies and councils that wish to fulfil the legal requirements as intended in the revised Waste Framework Directive."

Plastic industry reaction

Members of the plastics recycling industry have also issued reactions to the new regulations, with plastics recycling firm ECO Plastics saying it is "dismayed at the government’s failure to back-up the regulations with other key measures".

Jonathan Short, Deputy Chairman and founder of ECO Plastics, said: "We are pleased that the government has understood the importance of tackling the declining quality of the UK’s waste stream and introduced a compulsory Code of Practice, and that the system will be actively policed by the Environment Agency. Full transparency through the publication of testing results is another important step that will pay dividends in increasing industry confidence.

"That said, regulations are only as valuable as the inspection process used to enforce them, and the sampling quantities and frequency of testing envisioned is a long way below what is needed to come close to robustly measuring the quality of inputs and outputs. There is a very real concern that MRFs that do not wish to comply will be able to flout the rules because of the extent to which the process has been watered down."

He also voiced concern over the delivery timetable (the full transition period may not be complete until autumn 2016), adding: "This is a golden opportunity to bring our industry into the twenty-first century – I do not understand why we are not grabbing it with both hands."

Chris Dow, CEO of Closed Loop Recycling also commented, saying that theUK recycling industry and the wider UK economy has "so much to gain from a regulatory system designed to improve the quality of material that feeds into reprocessors".

He said: "Such a system, which is built upon transparency and regular reporting, should provide an enormous opportunity for the whole waste and recycling industry to work in partnership to really close the loop on waste – the backbone of the circular economy.

"Today’s announcement is a step in the right direction, although we’d still like to see it go further in helping us and our industry partners develop a sustainable business model where we can ensure that the UK is the recycling powerhouse of Europe."

Read more about the new Material Recovery Facility (MRF) Regulations