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New Hazardous Waste Regs came into force in July. At first glance, it may look as though they do not apply to many businesses, but that is wrong. They are wide ranging and are likely to be of great importance (and cause major paperwork problems for many property owners).
The starting point is that the Regs define 118 new types of 'waste' including old TVs, fluorescent tubes, PC monitors and lead batteries. Most premises are covered unless they produce less than 200 kg of hazardous waste in any 12-month period (roughly equivalent to ten small TVs or monitors; 14 lead acid batteries; 500 fluorescent tubes; or five domestic fridges). Accordingly, it can be seen that many commercial premises will be in the scope of the Regs.
The first requirement under the Regs is to register premises by notification to the Environment Agency (£18 on-line or by e-mail; £23 by phone; £28 in writing). That registration results in the issue of a 'premises code'. The second element of the Regs relates to record keeping (and these apply even if the premises are exempt from notification). Basically, every party in the chain (from production to disposal) must keep records of the waste. Accordingly, as a producer you are required to keep records of the quantity, nature, origin and destination, frequency of collection, mode of transport and treatment of the waste – and you must keep a record for each consignment for up to three years. There are complex procedures to be followed (depending upon whether consignments are 'single' or 'multiple'). However, the important point to appreciate is that the owners of many premises are now required to register with the Environment Agency, and at the same time many businesses will now have to keep comprehensive records of waste consignments (with a failure to do so being a criminal offence).
These Regs will be important for property lawyers and, in this month's conveyancing section (p9), we have included some suggested additional precontract enquiries that might be useful.
Finally, it has to be said that there has been a real dearth of information and publicity about these important Regs and there is widespread ignorance of them. Details can be found on the Environment Agency website.
By far the best introduction we have come across is by Burges Salmon in [2005] The In-House Lawyer September p48.
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