New guidance has been issued setting out the legal definition of waste. The updated advice for businesses, local authorities and charities comes as part of the Cutting Red Tape Review being carried out for the waste sector and is published by Defra, the Environment Agency, the Welsh Government, Northern Ireland’s Department of the Environment and Natural Resources Wales.
The new guidance, issued on the 5 May 2016, has been condensed into one page and is viewable online. It replaces the original version, which was published in 2012 and spread over 69-pages. The guidance can be used by producers to assess the status of their material and determine whether it is a waste or not, to identify the activities and operations where waste rules apply, the relevant exclusions, and when waste ceases to be waste. It also sets out what happens if you don’t follow the rules and sets out how the regulator decides whether or not to take enforcement action.
The Environment Agency has stated that there has been no change to the interpretation of the law.
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