Here’s an update from The Environment Agency on recent changes to the regulation of waste wood:

Can you see the wood for the trees?

We have recently updated how waste wood is regulated. This is due to new research that has been conducted by relevant industry bodies. This had led to new guidance being produced that gives us a better understanding about which types of wood waste would be classed as hazardous waste.

A few years ago, we highlighted concerns about how waste wood was being manged as our evidenced showed that in some cases hazardous waste wood was ending up in animal bedding and other inappropriate uses. We tasked industry with looking into this issue to ensure that waste wood was properly assessed as either hazardous or not at the point of production so that it would be appropriately managed afterwards. To give industry time we produced a regulatory position statement (RPS) that allowed un-assessed mixed waste wood to be moved as non-hazardous providing it went to either to panel board manufacture or certain type of incinerator.

Now we have we have the industry guidance we have removed the old RPS and produced two more*

The main changes are that waste wood from demolition and refurbishment activities must be assessed and classified accordingly. Our RPS relating to these activities excludes the majority of known hazardous wood types such a railway sleepers but allows some types of wood which are potentially hazardous to be dealt with by sites that are not currently permitted to received hazardous waste. This is on the proviso that it still goes to either panel board manufacture or the correct type of incinerator. This hazardous waste wood, or where it is not possible to segregate, the mixed waste wood must be consigned as hazardous waste.

Our RPS’ are time limited to give industry more scope to understand this potentially hazardous waste wood and to prevent management issues. We are currently aware that for a number of reasons the amount of wood waste is high and we are helping operators deal with this issue.

* RPS 249 Household waste recycling sites

RPS 250 Demolition and refurbishment activities