Important changes to waste legislation

The directive is aimed at reducing the amount of waste being sent to landfill within the EU. These new requirements place a duty on waste producers to treat non-hazardous waste prior to disposal in landfill (this requirement is already in force for hazardous waste).

Treatment could include sorting to remove recyclable materials, or making the waste easier to handle and businesses may either undertake this themselves or ask their waste contractor to do it on their behalf. Compacting waste does NOT constitute treatment, as the characteristics of the waste are not fundamentally changed.

The Environment Agency has produced a guide to the new requirements, and these may be downloaded, from their web-site.