The Environment Agency will allow sites in England to temporarily exceed their permitted storage limits for certain wastes.
The Environment Agency launched the Regulatory Position Statement (RPS) following calls from industry for more flexible storage requirements due to the current issues with the offtake for certain waste streams.
The RPS applies to the temporary storage of baled and securely wrapped refuse-derived fuel (RDF), mixed municipal waste, and waste wood destined for incineration. The RPS only applies where the Environment Agency has agreed in writing.
The Wood Recyclers’ Association (WRA) welcomed ‘in principle’ the launch of the RPS. However, the WRA says it is also working with the Environment Agency to address a ‘number of concerns’ over the RPS in its current form to ensure it is not ‘overly restrictive’.
Commenting on the RPS, Alastair Kerr, Director General of the Wood Panel Industries Federation (WPIF), said: “The current wording in RPS 352 is restricted to those who are storing material for further transit to incineration.
“However, it must be broadened to include wood stored that is intended for panel board production. The panel board sector provides relatively stable demand throughout the year whereas bioenergy demand can fluctuate.
The current wording in RPS 352 is restricted to those who are storing material for further transit to incineration.
“The current market difficulties are putting pressure on all those storing wood for onward distribution and some of those sites are only handling material for panel board consumption, therefore, to limit the RPS to only incineration, would not resolve the current problem that is impacting on all sites storing waste wood for onward distribution regardless of end market.”
The Association says recent issues with the offtake of waste wood have caused shutdowns – both scheduled and unscheduled – at plants processing waste wood.
These include biomass plants and panel board manufacturers, alongside a fall in demand from the export market, which the WRA says has resulted in an abundance of material.
The WRA cites concerns that the current RPS excludes wood recycling sites that supply the panel board industry and the restrictions on the time allowed for extra storage do not take into account how long biomass plants stop taking material during shutdowns.
Shutdowns at biomass plants can start three months before and continue three months after the shutdown, or more for unplanned outages, the WRA says.
Vice President of the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM), Vicki Hughes, Technical Lead on the WRA Board, commented: “We welcome this RPS in principle which is something the WRA has been calling for to help our members navigate the current market conditions and ensure no material is sent to landfill.
“However, in order for this to alleviate the current pressure on the market as intended, it is critical that the RPS is not too restrictive and takes into consideration how the waste wood sector operates.
“We look forward to working with the Environment Agency to resolve these concerns and ensure that the RPS can achieve what it was intended to.”
