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Agricultural Waste

Agricultural waste was excluded from the regulations that controlled the management of household, commercial and industrial waste until 2005 in Scotland and 2006 in the remainder of the UK. The implementation of the following regulations means that waste management controls now also apply to agricultural waste and they have the same regulatory requirements as other commercial and industrial wastes.

Waste Management (England and Wales) Regulations 20064,

Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2005 (Website 3);

Waste Management Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006 (Website 4);

Agricultural waste must have been produced on a 'farm' in the course of 'farming' (Website 6), it can be both natural and non- natural waste (Website 11).

Non-Natural Wastes

Common non-natural agricultural wastes include discarded pesticide containers, plastics, bags and sheets, tyres, batteries, clinical waste, old machinery, oil, packaging waste and much more (Website 1).

Plastic packaging waste from agriculture represents approximately 1.5% of the overall volume of plastic packaging in the waste stream in England. The types of plastic wastes arising can vary and be both bulky and dirty often making the management of theses wastes difficult. Around 135,500 tonnes of agricultural plastic waste is produced each year in the UK with (Website 11);

  • Approximately 32,000 tonnes being produced from plastic packaging waste
  • Approximately 103,500 tonnes being produced from Non-Packaging Plastics (including contamination)

The Agricultural Waste Plastics Collection and Recovery Programme is operating to try and tackle some of the agricultural plastic waste issues. The objective of the Programme is to try and identify best practice for the cost effective collection and recovery of agricultural waste plastics. They also aim to try and identify how Producer Responsibility for non-packaging farm plastics might work and how it can be linked in with other Government legislation for example the packaging waste regulations (Website 11).

A range of hazardous wastes arises on farms; these can include used syringes and needles, unused animal medicines and asbestos cement roof sheeting and waste oils. In 2003 there were 201,926 agricultural holdings within the UK and 86% of these produced waste oils. These wastes must be disposed of following the;

  • Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2005 in England and Wales;
  • Special Waste Amendment (Scotland) Regulations 2004 in Scotland;
  • Hazardous Waste Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2005 in Northern Ireland

For more information see the Hazardous waste fact file in the August 2007 CIWM journal.

Natural Wastes

The common natural waste includes slurries and manure. A survey carried out in England 2003 showed that 93% of all agricultural waste, 43 million tonnes was manure and slurries waste (Website 7). In the UK if manures and slurries are used as a fertiliser on agricultural premises then they are technically not seen as a waste and are exempt from waste management regulations. Other regulations still need to be followed such as ground water regulations, causing some restrictions on the spreading of manure and sludge to land (Websites 2, 9, 10).

How the Regulations will affect Waste Disposal Activities

Some of the previously common practices for disposal of agricultural waste which are now not allowed include (Website 3):

  • Burning waste in the open, 2003 survey (Website 8) found that 90% of holdings burned at least one type of waste, with 83% carrying out open burning.
  • Using unlicensed farm tips or burying waste;
  • Putting farm waste in the household dust-bin

The regulations mean that farmers and growers will now have to dispose or recycled agricultural waste in a way that will protect the environment and human health. Meaning farmers will have to (Website 1):

  • Send or take their waste for disposal off-farm at licensed sites;
  • Register a licensing exemption with the appropriate regulatory body to recycle waste on-farm; or
  • Apply to the appropriate regulatory body for a licence to continue on-farm disposal

Key Legislation

Animal By-Products Regulation 2005 (Website 11) - The aim of the regulation is to protect human and animal health and the environment. It includes standards for the safe storage, transportation, treatment and disposal of animal by-products.

The Environmental Protection (Duty of Care) Regulations 1991 (Website 12) - The Duty of Care applies to all 'Controlled Waste' meaning it applies to all waste materials produced as part of a business. It is 'self regulating' in that waste should not be accepted by or given to anyone who is not authorised to take it (Website 14). The Duty of Care is currently under review.

Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994 (Website 15), A Waste management licence may be required if you deposit waste, keep waste, treat waste, dispose of waste. The Waste management licensing regime is to be merged with Pollution prevention and Control Permits into a new Environmental Permitting Programme scheduled.

Website References

1) Defra (2007), Agricultural Waste, http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/topics/agwaste.htm Accessed 05/08/2007

2) SEPA, Agricultural Waste,

http://www.sepa.org.uk/pdf/publications/leaflets/agric/agric_and_waste.pdf

Accessed 05/08/2007

3) Scottish Statutory Instrument 2005 No. 22, The Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2005,

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/ssi2005/20050022.htm Accessed 05/08/2007

4) Scottish Statutory Instrument 2005 No. 22, The Waste (Scotland) Regulations 2005,

http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2006/20060937.htm

Accessed 05/08/2007

5) Statutory Rule 2006 No. 280, The Waste Management Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2006, http://www.opsi.gov.uk/Sr/sr2006/20060280.htm

Accessed 05/08/2007

6) Environment Agency, Exemption Registration for Agricultural Waste frequently asked questions, http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/commondata/acrobat/faqs_ag_1785773.pdf

Accessed 06/08/2007

7) Environment Agency, Types and quantities of agricultural waste 2003,

http://environment-agency.wales.gov.uk/commondata/103196/1094398?referrer=/subjects/waste/1031954/315439/923299/1036866/?lang=_e (Accessed 6/08/2007)

8) Environment Agency (2003), Agricultural waste survey 2003

http://www.agwasteplastics.org/media_files/useful_docs/agricultural_waste_survey_2003.pdf (Accessed 06/08/2007)

9) Environment Agency, Are manure and slurries waste?

http://environment.gov.uk/business/444304/1224648/660279/241420/1387827/1226419/?version=1&lang=_e (Accessed 06/08/2007)

10) Environment & Heritage service, Frequently asked questions, http://www.ehsni.gov.uk/2faq.pdf (Accessed 06/08/2007)

11) Agricultural Waste Plastics Collection and Recovery Programme (2006), About agricultural waste plastics, http://www.agwasteplastics.org.uk/agri/about.html (Accessed 7/08/2007)

12) Statutory Instrument 2005 No. 2347, The Animal By-Products Regulations 2005, http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2005/20052347.htm (Accessed 9/08/2007)

13) Statutory Instrument 1991 No. 2839, The Environmental Protection (Duty of Care) Regulations 1991, http://www.opsi.gov.uk/SI/si1991/Uksi_19912839_en_1.htm (Accessed 9/08/2007)

14) NetRegs (2007) Duty of care - your waste responsibilities http://www.netregs.gov.uk/netregs/275207/275430/?lang=_e (Accessed 09/08/2007)

15) Statutory Instrument 1994 No. 1056, The Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994, http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1994/Uksi_19941056_en_1.htm (Accessed 9/08/2007)