Guidance

Temporary storage of waste upholstered domestic seating containing POPs: RPS 265

Published 19 December 2022

Applies to England

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/temporary-storage-of-waste-upholstered-domestic-seating-containing-pops-rps-265/temporary-storage-of-waste-upholstered-domestic-seating-containing-pops-rps-265

This regulatory position statement (RPS) does not change your legal requirement to get an environmental permit to temporarily store waste upholstered domestic seating where one is required.

Waste upholstered domestic seating may contain persistent organic pollutants (POPs). A specialist test using x-ray fluorescence (XRF) is required to confirm if it contains POPs or does not. Therefore, if you accept waste upholstered domestic seating, unless you have written evidence that it does not contain POPs, you must manage that waste upholstered domestic seating as if it contains POPs.

However, the Environment Agency will not normally take enforcement action against you if you do not have an environmental permit to store waste upholstered domestic seating provided:

  • 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

When this RPS applies

This RPS is only for use by a:

  • waste collection authority
  • waste disposal authority
  • contractor working on behalf of either or both of these authorities

It’s for when:

  • your site or premises does not have an environmental permit to store waste upholstered domestic seating
  • you are temporarily storing waste upholstered domestic seating for up to 6 months
  • the waste type is waste upholstered domestic seating list of waste code 20 03 07
  • the waste upholstered domestic seating will go to an appropriately authorised incinerator an Industrial Emissions Directive Chapter 4 compliant permitted incinerator for disposal

Conditions you must comply with

You must notify the Environment Agency by email before you use this RPS. You must give these details:

  • name of the waste collection authority or waste disposal authority and the contractor (if a contractor is working on behalf the authority)
  • address of the site or sites where you are, or intend to, store the waste upholstered domestic seating

Email popsinsofas@environment-agency.gov.uk

You must store waste upholstered domestic seating in a secure building which prevents:

  • waste escaping
  • access to members of the public

You must not store:

  • any item of waste upholstered domestic seating for longer than 6 months
  • more than 750m3 of waste upholstered domestic seating at any one time, or exceed the waste storage capacity of your site if it is less than 750m3

You must put in a fire prevention plan that will keep the likelihood of a fire to a minimum. Your plan should include, but is not limited to:

  • a method of extinguishing a fire within 4 hours
  • a way of keeping the spread of fire to a minimum
  • measures to prevent the risk of fire from arson or electrical faults
  • details of how the fire will be quickly detected within normal operating hours and outside of them
  • procedures for responding to and dealing with a fire within normal operating hours and outside of them
  • the firefighting techniques you propose
  • how you will manage and contain firewater at the site to keep it from causing pollution and entering watercourses or groundwater

You must create a site plan which shows:

  • the buildings and waste upholstered domestic seating storage areas
  • the access route for fire engines and any other available access points
  • hydrants and water supplies
  • drainage and how water will be contained
  • any sensitive receptors in the locality

You must send whole waste upholstered domestic seating to an appropriately permitted incinerator.

If the incinerator can only accept shredded waste upholstered domestic seating, you must send it to a shredding facility that either:

You must 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.

When you must check back

The Environment Agency will review this RPS by 1 December 2024. You will need to check back to see if it still applies or if you need to have applied for an appropriate environmental permit.

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

If you cannot comply with this RPS

If you operate under this RPS but think you may no longer be able to comply with its conditions, you must tell the Environment Agency immediately.

Email popsinsofas@environment-agency.gov.uk

Contact the Environment Agency

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

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