The consultation for waste carrier, broker, dealer (CBD) registration system in England and the consultation on the introduction of mandatory digital waste tracking will close on the 15th of April. As a stakeholder, be sure to give your views through online surveys.
According to DEFRA, the current carriers, brokers and dealers (CBD) regime [1] requires any person or business that transports waste, buys and sells waste, or arranges the transportation of waste in England to be registered with the Environment Agency as a waste carrier, broker or dealer.[2]
There are two tiers for registration. Individuals or businesses that only carry waste produced in the course of their business activities (other than construction or demolition waste) can register as lower tier. If a person or organisation carries others’ waste, carries construction or demolition waste, or acts as a broker or dealer, their activities are classed as upper tier.
It has been estimated the cost of waste crime to the UK economy is £1.11 billion per year and the cost to the English economy alone in the 2018/19 financial year was estimated to be £924 million.[3] The main economic costs are lost business revenues to the legitimate waste sector, loss of Landfill Tax through misclassification of waste and costs to the public sector of clearing abandoned waste sites and fly-tipped waste.
The Independent Review into Serious and Organised Crime in the Waste Sector in 2018 highlighted “the extent to which waste is handled by an increasing number of, often opaque, intermediaries”. It recommended that “Registration and duty of care requirements for carriers, brokers and dealers should be reformed (including in relation to hazardous waste).”[4] This document is about reforming the waste carrier, broker, dealer registration system in England to ensure that controlled waste in England is moved or traded by authorised persons and in a safe manner.
The consultation for waste carrier, broker, dealer (CBD) registration system in England seeks views on:
- The move from a registration to a permit-based system and the levels of permits available
- What activities should be covered by permits, what should be covered by exemptions and what activities should not require either a permit or registration
- The introduction of a technical competence element required for permits; the level required and how it can be demonstrated through the workforce
To give your opinion before 15th April, go to https://consult.defra.gov.uk/eq-resources-and-waste/consultation-on-cbd-reform/
Introduction of mandatory digital waste tracking
Over 200 million tonnes of waste is produced in the UK each year but there is currently no single or comprehensive way of tracking it, with legislation relating to the transport, management and description of waste being introduced separately over the last 30 or so years.
Large amounts of data are either not collected or not collated centrally. Multiple IT systems collect certain elements of waste tracking data. Some are paper-based, others digital, some are run by private contractors, others by the government, and where the use of existing central digital systems is non-mandatory, take-up is very low. As a result, it is very difficult to determine what happens to our waste and to have a comprehensive understanding of whether it has been recycled, recovered, or disposed of.
Joining these fragmented systems up and replacing paper-based record-keeping will make it much easier and less time consuming for legitimate waste companies to comply with reporting requirements whilst making it much harder for rogue operators to compete in the industry and commit waste crime including fly-tipping, deliberate misclassification of waste, illegal waste exports and the operation of illegal waste sites.
The consultation for the introduction of mandatory digital waste tracking focuses on the practical aspects of introducing a digital waste tracking service to ensure that what DEFRA deliver will meet the needs of all those who will either be required to enter information onto it or who will draw information from it, including; businesses across all sectors, government, regulators, academia and the general public.
The responses received will help inform the design of the service, refine their proposals and produce regulations to support the waste tracking service.
To give your opinion before 15th April, go to https://consult.defra.gov.uk/environmental-quality/waste-tracking/
[1] https://www.gov.uk/register-renew-waste-carrier-broker-dealer-england
[2]The Control of Pollution (Amendment) Act 1989 and the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011
[3]Counting the cost of UK Waste Crime, 2021, commissioned by the Environmental Services Association and written by Eunomia. http://www.esauk.org/application/files/3716/2694/1872/ESA_Cost_of_Waste_Crime.pdf
[4] Recommendation 7- Independent report Serious and organised waste crime: 2018 review; commissioned by Defra
Sources
https://consult.defra.gov.uk/eq-resources-and-waste/consultation-on-cbd-reform/
https://consult.defra.gov.uk/environmental-quality/waste-tracking/
