Guidance

Classifying waste wood from mixed waste wood sources: RPS 207

Updated 4 January 2021

This guidance was withdrawn on

We have replaced RPS 207 with Receiving hazardous waste wood at household waste recycling centres: RPS 249 and Hazardous waste wood from demolition and refurbishment activities: RPS 250.

Applies to England

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This regulatory position statement (RPS) applies to business who:

  • produce waste wood
  • transport waste wood
  • keep waste wood
  • process waste wood
  • control waste wood – if you are a dealer or broker
  • use waste wood
  • dispose of waste wood

It allows treated or mixed waste wood (including chipped waste wood and wood fines), which could be classified as hazardous or non-hazardous and has not been assessed and classified in line with the hazardous waste technical guidance, to continue to be classified as non-hazardous.

For this RPS, treated waste wood is any waste wood, processed wood or wood fuel that contains, in any quantity, wood that’s been preserved, varnished, coated, painted or exposed to chemicals.

If you follow the conditions in this RPS, you do not need to apply a hazardous waste classification for treated or mixed waste wood.

If you cannot comply with the conditions in this RPS, you must apply a hazardous waste classification for treated or mixed waste wood. See the guidance on how to classify different waste types.

Conditions you must comply with

The waste wood must be destined for:

  • an Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) Chapter IV compliant permitted incinerator or co-incinerator
  • the manufacture of board

This includes the waste wood you are storing or pre-treating for these purposes.

If you are going to use treated or mixed waste wood for any other purpose, you must do both of the following:

  • assess and classify it in line with the hazardous waste technical guidance before it is moved from the premises where it is produced or held
  • demonstrate that any processed waste derived from it (including chipped wood, wood fuel and wood fines) is derived solely from waste wood inputs that have been assessed and classified in line with the hazardous waste technical guidance

You must not assign a waste classification to the outputs from wood processing, or move it or send it anywhere unless you have done both of these things.

In your waste transfer note, your description of the waste wood must include ‘unassessed waste wood, including treated wood, for IED Chapter IV compliant incineration or co-incineration or board manufacture only’.

This RPS does not apply to waste wood that is known and is classified as hazardous, such as:

  • railway sleepers
  • telegraph poles
  • wood treated with creosote

You must segregate hazardous waste wood and consign it as hazardous.

Enforcement

An RPS means that the Environment Agency will not normally take enforcement action against you provided:

  • your activity meets the description set out in this RPS
  • you comply with the conditions set out in this RPS
  • your activity does not, and is not likely to, cause environmental pollution or harm human health

Waste wood benefiting from this RPS is not assessed and classified in line with the law. The Environment Agency may record this on the compliance assessment report, but for the duration of this RPS we will not include a score.

When to check back

We will withdraw this RPS on 31 July 2021. This will give the waste wood industry time to:

  • publish a code of practice which meets the legal requirements for assessing and classifying waste wood
  • comply with that code of practice

After 31 July 2021 hazardous waste wood must be segregated and consigned as hazardous. This includes any waste wood that has entered the waste management system and, or (or both) has been stockpiled under this RPS.

Contact the Environment Agency

General enquiries

National Customer Contact Centre
PO Box 544
Rotherham
S60 1BY

Email enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk

Telephone 03708 506 506

Telephone from outside the UK (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm GMT) +44 (0) 114 282 5312

Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.

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