Health & safety bulletin
Hazardous waste
1st August 2005
The first part of the Hazardous Waste Regulations 2005 came into force on 16th April 2005. This part states "Where hazardous waste is produced at or removed from, any premises other than exempt premises, the premises must be notified to the Environment Agency".
The second part of the regulations came into force on 16th July 2005 and requires all transport of hazardous waste to be recorded.
Hazardous waste is essentially waste that contains hazardous properties that may render it harmful to human health or the environment. The main hazardous wastes that Xmo Strata deals with are fluorescent lamps and paint / solvents. However the sites the company works on will have various other hazardous wastes that it will be responsible for disposing of (for instance the disposal of fuel from interceptors).
Certain types of premises (e.g. Shops / offices) are exempt from the requirement to register, i.e. if less than 200kg of hazardous waste are produced per year. 200Kg is equivalent to approximately 500 fluorescent tubes.
Therefore most fuel stations will have to be registered as hazardous waste producers.
Where the company is required to remove hazardous waste from a site, it is the responsibility of Xmo Strata staff to ensure that the site is registered or exempt. If necessary, engineers must register the site before the waste is removed.
All transport of hazardous waste must be logged by the use of a consignment note. These consignment notes must be completed in triplicate and issued to the waste producer, the carrier and to the recipient. This is required even if the waste is produced and transported by the same person. The consignment notes have to be kept safe for three years; therefore copies must be returned to the office with the job sheets. All transport of hazardous waste must be delivered to the consignee promptly and without undue delay.
Fluorescent tubes and paint are classified as waste if they are no longer going to be used for their intended purpose i.e. as lights / paint. If a lamp is taken down and is to be reused on another site, this is not waste and does not require a consignment note. If a paint tin is half full and can be reused, it is not waste, however if it is contaminated or cannot be reused then it is waste and will require a consignment note.
All hazardous waste must be kept separate from other forms of waste (including other hazardous materials). If hazardous waste cannot be separated from normal waste, then it is all classified as hazardous and must be disposed of accordingly. E.g., if fluorescent lamps are thrown into a skip with general waste, the entire skip will be classified as hazardous waste and will have to be disposed of as such, this would be very expensive as the number of land fill sites that are accepting hazardous waste is very small. These regulations are intended to help increase the amount of waste that is recycled.
Any person not complying with these new regulations is subject to a maximum fine of £20,000 or up to two years imprisonment. For minor offences an investigating officer can impose fixed fines of £300.