Enviros consultants have created a new web site to assist the waste management industry in coping with the necessary reviews and risk assessments necessary to comply with the ATEX Directive regulations which finally come into force at the end of this month.
Many in the waste industry think that ATEX & DSEAR (UK) compliance means little more than ensuring that a leachate pump is ATEX Certified, when the actual requirements are much broader.

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The Environment Agency today (Thursday, 11 January 2007) called on the nation to reduce, reuse and recycle as much of our waste as possible.

The call comes as the Environment Agency publishes the latest figures on what happens to our waste in England and Wales.

Barbara Young, Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, said: “The good news is we are recycling more and have sent nine per cent less waste to landfill in England and Wales since 2001. However, the report also highlights that we need to improve our reuse and recycling of waste and ideally, not produce it in the first place.

“Landfill should be the last resort for waste that we can’t recover or recycle, as it is not sustainable to keep sending it to landfill. The data give a clear indication of which regions have the greatest challenges. For example if we continue to landfill at current rates, existing landfill capacity in Wales, East Anglia and London could be full by the end of the decade. The space available to fill with waste has fallen by more than 30% in some areas since 1998/9.

“These figures are projections and do not necessarily mean that we will physically run out of landfill space, because new sites may open. This report will be helpful to local authorities who are responsible for handling and managing municipal waste.

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Chancellor Gordon Brown has announced that landfill tax will rise by £8 each year until at least 2010-2011.

Among a raft of environmental measures, the Chancellor said he would increase landfill tax by this new rate from April 1 2008.

He said in the Budget: “To encourage recycling, I will increase landfill tax by £8 each year up to 2011 from next April.”

At present, landfill tax is set at £21 and will continue to rise by £3 to £24 from April 1 2007.

This means that by 2011, landfill tax could be £40 by 2009 and potentially over £50 after 2011.

In the full Budget report, the Chancellor also announced that the revenue from the extra landfill tax will be “recycled to business through the reductions in corporation tax also announced today” from 30p to 28p in the pound. This means that the Business Resource Efficiency and Waste (BREW) programme is unlikely to receive any further funding to that announced in the pre-Budget report although this will be confirmed as part of the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review that will be published later this year.

The Landfill Communities Fund, which was previously known as the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme, will get an extra £5 million for 2007-08. The Budget report stated: “The Government today announces that the value of the fund will be increased by £5 million to £65 million for 2007-08. It will also be amending the regulations in order to reduce the administrative burden on environmental bodies and simplify the operation of the fund. The Government will consider the case for further increases.

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The EU has unveiled details of two new strategies designed to improve the way Europe exploits and recycles its waste.
The thematic strategy for the prevention and recycling of waste aims to turn the EU into a recycling society by improving how Europe manages its waste

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16th July 2005, New legislation on how we deal with hazardous waste came into force, and more is still to come. So it is now more important than ever that disposers know the facts and are prepared for how this may impact their organisations.

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