Guidance

Monitoring fugitive emissions from shredding waste upholstered domestic seating: RPS 297

Published 12 March 2024

Applies to England

© Crown copyright 2024

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/monitoring-fugitive-emissions-from-shredding-waste-upholstered-domestic-seating-rps-297/monitoring-fugitive-emissions-from-shredding-waste-upholstered-domestic-seating-rps-297

This regulatory position statement (RPS) does not change your legal requirement to make every reasonable effort to avoid contaminating other waste with POPs when you shred waste upholstered domestic seating at a waste treatment site.

However, the Environment Agency will not normally take enforcement action if you do not comply with this legal requirement provided that:

  • your activity meets the description set out in this RPS
  • you comply with the conditions set out in this RPS

In addition, your activity must not cause (or be likely to cause) environmental pollution or harm human health, or:

  • cause a risk to water, air, soil, plants or animals
  • cause a nuisance through noise or odours
  • adversely affect the countryside or places of special interest

Activity this RPS applies to

This RPS applies to waste treatment sites that are shredding waste upholstered domestic seating where their permit allows them to store and shred this waste under code 20 03 07.

Conditions you must comply with

You must:

  • send shredded waste upholstered domestic seating to an appropriately authorised Industrial Emissions Directive Chapter 4 compliant permitted incinerator

  • have health and safety workplace exposure monitoring data which has indicated the level of polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) are below 0.7 mg/m3 for pentaBDE and the level of fugitive particulates below 5mg/m3

  • comply with the conditions in RPS 264 (with the exception of the abatement installation and commissioning deadline of 1 December 2024)

  • send copies of health and safety workplace monitoring to popsinsofas@environment-agency.gov.uk by 30 April 2024

  • agree a fugitive monitoring plan for your shredding process with the Environment Agency by 31 August 2024

  • monitor the fugitive emissions from shredding waste upholstered domestic seating in line with the agreed fugitive monitoring plan

  • send the results of the fugitive emissions monitoring to the Environment Agency at popsinsofas@environment-agency.gov.uk by 20 December 2024

  • commission and install equipment to capture and abate fugitive emissions by 1 December 2025 if your monitoring results indicate fugitive emissions need to be abated

  • keep records for 2 years to show that you have complied with this RPS and make these records available to the Environment Agency on request

Before you use this RPS, you must contact the Environment Agency by emailing popsinsofas@environment-agency.gov.uk. Include RPS 297 in the subject line. You must give your:

  • permit holder name

  • permit number

  • site address

When you must check back

The Environment Agency intends to review this RPS by 28 December 2024.  

The Environment Agency can withdraw or amend this regulatory position before the review date if they consider it necessary. This includes where the activity that this RPS relates to has not changed.

You will need to check back from time to time, including at and before the withdrawal date, to see if this RPS still applies.

This RPS remains in force until it is removed from GOV.UK or is otherwise identified as having been withdrawn.

You can subscribe to email updates about this RPS. This will tell you if the RPS has changed and when it has been withdrawn.

If you cannot comply with this RPS

If you operate under this RPS but can no longer comply with it, you must:

Contact the Environment Agency

If you have any questions about this RPS, email popsinsofas@environment-agency.gov.uk

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