Breaking finance and business news, tax information, jobs and more for finance directors and senior finance professionals.

The new regulations, which are being introduced and promoted by the Environment Agency (EA) and came into force on 30 October this year, require all businesses to demonstrate treatment of their own waste in either a physical, thermal, chemical, or biological process, while landfill operators must also demonstrate they are not accepting waste from business without it first being treated.

After discussing the issue with key industry organisations and a variety of the firm's larger waste producing clients, Grant Thornton's Waste Specialist and Director, Nigel Mattravers, said that it was evident that the majority of UK companies were simply not prepared for the change, and could incur EA penalties as a result.

"It feels like over the past 12 months every man and his dog has been making noises about becoming greener, but here we have a major piece of legislation coming into force that supports this, and it is virtually ignored."

"Crucially, it isn't just manufacturers that will now have to treat their own non-hazardous waste before it is collected; every business in the country, including high street retailers, City offices and country pubs must now produce their own reports on how they have treated their waste, in accordance with the EA's guidelines," Mattravers said.

Commitment 

A new survey, conducted by YouGov on behalf of Taylor Intelligence, shows that 80 per cent of small and medium size firms (SME) and 53 per cent of larger firms are unaware of the new rubbish regulations. In addition, 15 per cent of SME managers said their businesses do not recycle any of a wide range of non-hazardous recyclable products.

However, a survey commissioned by environmental guidance website NetRegs claims that as many as 34 per cent of businesses asked are failing to recycle their business waste. 

The legislation has resulted from the European Union Landfill Directive, which aims to reduce reliance on landfills throughout the EU, and requires every business to fill out and keep 'pre-treatment forms' to demonstrate their commitment to landfill reduction.

Put simply, the law requires the business itself, or a certified contractor, to change the characteristics of the waste in order to reduce its volume, facilitate its handling and/or enhance its recovery. This could include simply sorting and recycling, or preparing now for the distinct possibility of further law change to come, requiring even greater treatment efforts.

Top down affair

Mattravers said this was a "slow burner" type of regulation that would gather momentum as green issues continued to gain traction in the UK private sector, and in effect was a step towards making recycling avoidance illegal.

"While we won't see the recycling police here any time soon, the regulations will force every business in the UK to think much more seriously about their waste streams - and then act."

The EA has indicated the policing of these regulations will be very much a top down affair, but penalties can be serious, with the EA confirming that if false pre-treatment forms are filled out, the waste producer can be prosecuted, and the landfill operator may also be prosecuted for not examining the waste properly.

"What is most vague is how heavily these rules will in fact be enforced, and whether the EA is planning to get tougher over time. It may very well be that landfills are left with much of the responsibility for policing these changes, as it is simply easier to penalise a central operator than try and go after individual waste producers."

"Whatever the enforcement system, it is clear that UK businesses must start preparing for the changes, now," Mattravers concluded.

Related articles

• Government urged to publicise waste rules 

Related links

• Grant Thornton
• Environment Agency