Guidance

Hazardous waste wood from demolition and refurbishment activities: RPS 250

Updated 9 September 2021

This guidance was withdrawn on

This regulatory position statement (RPS) was time limited.

Applies to England

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/hazardous-waste-wood-from-demolition-and-refurbishment-activities-rps-250/hazardous-waste-wood-from-demolition-and-refurbishment-activities-rps-250

This regulatory position statement (RPS) applies to hazardous waste wood removed from domestic premises, demolition sites and other business premises and undertakings. It allows operators with an existing environmental permit to:

  • store hazardous waste wood at a waste transfer station
  • process and mix hazardous waste wood with non-hazardous waste wood at a wood processing site

You must identify, segregate and consign hazardous waste wood collected from demolition sites, and other business premises and undertakings under waste code 17 02 04*.

Transfer stations receiving hazardous waste wood must sort, segregate and consign that wood under waste code 17 02 04*, 19 12 06* or 20 01 37*. If segregation is not practical, you can dual code mixed hazardous and non-hazardous waste wood and consign it under waste codes 17 02 04* and 17 02 01, 19 12 06* and 19 12 07 or 20 01 37* and 20 01 38. Transfer stations must estimate the percentage of hazardous waste wood and must include it on that consignment note.

Waste wood processors that chip or shred waste wood can receive hazardous waste wood, mix and blend hazardous and non-hazardous waste wood. You can continue to move the mixed hazardous and non-hazardous waste wood, normally coded as 19 02 04*, as non-hazardous using code 19 12 07 on your waste transfer note, under the terms of this time-limited RPS.

Most types of hazardous waste wood are excluded from this RPS. You should continue to consign this wood as hazardous to sites permitted to accept hazardous waste wood. Mixing the excluded hazardous waste wood with non-hazardous waste wood makes the waste wood mixed-hazardous and you must consign it.

Conditions you must comply with

You must:

  • ensure all demolition and refurbishment waste wood is destined for an Industrial Emissions Directive Chapter IV compliant permitted incinerator or co-incinerator or for the manufacture of engineered or composite board
  • have written systems and procedures to demonstrate you have followed industry published guidance on waste wood assessment

You cannot use this RPS for the following wood types:

  • railway sleepers
  • telegraph poles
  • waste wood from hydraulic engineering, such as wood from docks
  • waste wood from industrial applications such as cooling tower timbers, wood block flooring or moulds
  • waste wood from boats, carriages and trailer beds
  • waste wood treated with creosote

You must segregate and consign these excluded waste types as hazardous to sites permitted to accept hazardous waste wood.

Enforcement

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

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

When to check back

This RPS will give waste wood storage and processing businesses:

  • time to understand the quantities and types of hazardous waste wood arising from demolition and refurbishment activities
  • apply for a permit variation to accept hazardous waste wood if there is a market and business need

We will review this RPS, taking account of industry progress, on an annual basis. We will withdraw it by 1 September 2023.

Before we withdraw this RPS, operators who wish to continue to store, process or use hazardous waste wood or a mixture of hazardous and non-hazardous waste wood, must submit a duly-made application for a variation to include hazardous waste wood codes in their permit.

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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