Guidance

Recovering unused waste plastics coded 16 03 06: RPS 273

Updated 29 August 2023

Applies to England

This regulatory position statement (RPS) does not change your legal requirement to have an environmental permit for a waste operation or waste exemption when you store, treat and use waste plastic ‘off specification batches and unused products’, coded as 16 03 06, for recovery.

However, the Environment Agency will not normally take enforcement action against you if you do not comply with these legal requirements 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) pollution of the environment or harm to human health, and must not:

• 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 recovering unused waste plastics coded 16 03 06 ‘off specification batches and unused products’, where either:

• this waste code is not in your environmental permit

• you operate under a T4 waste exemption: preparatory treatments, such as, baling, sorting, shredding

• you operate under a U9 waste exemption: using waste to manufacture finished goods

Examples of treatment include:

• shredding

• granulation

• pelletisation

• densification

• heat treatment

Examples of the waste stream 16 03 06 ‘off specification batches and unused products’ include:

• plastic items that have failed quality assurance due to a manufacturing fault
• plastic items that have passed a use by date but remain essentially unaltered from the time of production - for example, they have not degraded or decayed

Conditions you must comply with

You must either:

• hold an environmental permit that authorises the treatment or use of waste plastics or

• have registered either a T4 or U9 waste exemption

You must:

• only store, treat or use waste made up of unused plastics classified under technical guidance WM3 as 16 03 06

• comply with your environmental permit, or the limits and conditions specified in your registered T4 or U9 waste exemption

• 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

You must not:

• exceed the plastic tonnage limit in your environmental permit, or your registered T4 or U9 waste exemption

Things to note

Waste derived finished goods must meet the end of waste test. ‘Finished goods’ means goods that are ready for use by a consumer without any further processing.

This RPS relates to an activity that the Environment Agency considers is potentially suitable to be an exemption under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.

When you must check back

The Environment Agency will review this RPS by 1 July 2026.

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 review 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.

If you cannot comply with this RPS

If you operate under this RPS but can no longer comply with it, you must stop the activity to which this RPS relates and must tell the Environment Agency immediately. Email enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk and put ‘Recovering unused waste plastics coded 16 03 06: RPS 273’ in the subject.

Contact the Environment Agency

If you have any questions about this RPS email enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk and put ‘Recovering unused waste plastics coded 16 03 06: RPS 273’ in the subject.