Waste pre-treatment: how will you comply?

by SLR Consulting principle Clare Boles

The new requirements of the Landfill Regulations for Northern Ireland came into force on 30 October and raise a key question on how waste is managed from creation to disposal.

Two new requirements, previously only applicable to hazardous waste, now apply to all business non-hazardous waste destined for landfill. Non-hazardous landfills will only be able to accept non-hazardous waste that has been treated and they will no longer be able to accept liquid wastes. Consequently, all businesses producing waste must ask themselves now: how are we going to ensure compliance?

Many waste operators have been pro-active in informing their customers of these new requirements and some businesses have already put on-site cost saving schemes in place to reduce the amount of waste they send to landfill.

However, the new requirements now force producers of waste destined for landfill to ensure that they know who takes responsibility for its pre -treatment. A passive approach is not an option so decisions need to be made: do you treat it yourself or rely on your waste management company to do it for you?

For some waste producers, compliance with the Landfill Regulations will be simple. For example, they could collect individual waste streams separately and recycle one or more of them. Although for many waste producers this could be an ideal solution, it could present logistical problems such as lack of space for sorting and storing.

To comply with the new requirements, waste collectors must demonstrate to landfill operators that the waste has been treated. This means that they must either take non-treated waste to a facility for treatment or ensure that it is treated prior to collection.
Where producers say that the waste has already been treated then almost certainly evidence will be required to this effect. It is likely that waste collectors will require either a written declaration or for a written confirmation to be included as part of the Duty of Care transfer note from the waste producer. Some waste management companies may even suggest carrying out an audit of customers’ waste management treatment arrangements.

Landfill operators must now ensure that waste arriving at the landfill has undergone treatment and they will inspect paperwork and waste on arrival at the site. If it is evident that waste has not been pre-treated then, as part of the landfill site’s waste acceptance procedures, the landfill operator will need to manage the waste in the same way as they would for any other non-permitted waste. This could include notification of a firm’s non-compliance to the Environment Agency, removal of the waste off-site or returning the waste to the producer. The latter could result in the producer being charged additional fees by the waste contractor.

Non-hazardous Wastes
In recent years, waste management companies have undertaken significant investment in various types of biological treatment facilities such as, composting and anaerobic digestion (AD) plants or, thermal treatment facilities such as energy from waste (EfW) plants. These facilities have been mainly driven through links with contract related investment in municipal solid waste (MSW) treatment schemes.

There is wide recognition throughout the waste industry that the landfill tax is not high enough to encourage sufficient investment in speculative industrial and commercial waste treatment facilities. On price comparison grounds the landfill option continues to be attractive.

However, the proposed rises in landfill tax from April 2008 may well stimulate investment going forward. In the meantime, most major waste management companies have their own transfer stations and material recycling facilities (MRFs). It is likely that if waste has not been treated by the waste producer prior to collection then it will be diverted to these existing facilities to ensure compliance with the Landfill Regulations.

SLR Consulting is a multi-disciplinary environmental consultancy and is one of the UK’s leading advisors on waste management. It has not seen a significant increase in applications being made by waste operators seeking permissions to operate pre-treatment facilities in advance of the October deadline. At this stage, it would seem that waste companies are confident that their existing facilities have sufficient capacity to treat waste prior to being consigned to landfill. This situation is likely to change as awareness of the regulations increase but also commercial benefits are realized.

Non Hazardous Liquids
The ban on disposal of non-hazardous liquid wastes to landfill also came into force from 30 October.  Many liquid waste types from a variety of industries are affected, including effluent from food processing, liquors from the leather industry, waste paints and varnishes from paint manufactures. The new requirements require pre-treatment prior to disposal, involving physico-chemical and/or biological processing.

Despite the ban, uncertainty remains over whether there is sufficient treatment infrastructure to handle these new waste streams. In the South West of England, for example, SLR is aware that there is some concern that the lack of treatment capacity within the region could result in significant volumes of waste being disposed of illegally. This is creating opportunities for the waste management industry, as illustrated by the Bale Group, a liquid waste management contractor operating in the South West.  Although Bale has been successfully operating a liquid hazardous treatment facility for a number of years it recognises the need for a facility that can deal with liquid non-hazardous waste as a result of the Landfill Regulations.

SLR is providing consultancy support to help Bale develop a de-watering plant at its site in Honiton, Devon. This facility will utilise polymer dosing technology followed by filtration and/or centrifugation. The resulting effluent would be suitable for discharge to a sewer and the solid waste would be sufficiently de-watered to allow for its disposal to any non-hazardous landfill. Once in place, the new plant will provide significant additional capacity in the region for pre-treatment of non-hazardous liquid wastes.

Implications
Clearly, a key decision needs to be made as to whether there is the will, resources and space to be able to treat waste prior to collection. If the waste producer decides treatment is not a viable option, discussions with the waste contractor need to take place sooner rather than later.

Are the new landfill requirements likely to lead to an increase in disposal costs? The Environment Agency thinks not – it anticipates that a review of waste production and management options can often identify potential for cost savings. It would appear, however, that these assumptions rely on the fact that businesses have the time, knowledge and resources to explore fully their options for disposal of their waste prior to going to landfill.