Industry

MRF inspections to begin in January

The Environment Agency (EA) and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) will begin undertaking inspections of materials recovery facilities (MRFs) in January 2015, to ensure that operators are complying with the MF Regulations (part of the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2014).

MRF inspections to begin in January

Since 1 October 2014, MRFs processing more than 1,000 tonnes of mixed waste per annum have been legally required to test the composition of samples of the material they put into the sorting process (such as glass, metal, paper and plastic), and the useable output, and report them to the Environment Agency (for MRFs in England) or Natural Resources Wales (for MRFs in Wales). It is hoped that this will ‘help stimulate the market conditions necessary to improve the quality of the material produced by materials facilities so that it can be more readily recycled’.

According to the regulations, MRFs would also be liable to at least two inspections by the EA/Natural Resources Wales in regards to their compliance: one pre-arranged and one unannounced (but any MRFs found to be ‘underperforming’ would be visited more frequently).

However, to date, no MRFs have been inspected due to delays with finalising the charging regime for the inspections (which was consulted on earlier this year). A spokesperson for the EA said that it had been supporting customers, and were ready to undertake inspections but had been awaiting approval of the inspection charge. This will reportedly cover the ‘extra time required for specific compliance and data handling activities in addition to [its] existing work associated with these sites’.

Despite previously outlining that the charge would be £2240 (in addition to the current annual permit subsistence charge), the EA has now revealed that it is proposing a further baseline increase of two per cent (to £2284), and – if approved – this would become effective from 1 April 2015. This is despite it previously suggesting that the full charge would first come into effect from February 2016.

Although awaiting formal sign-off, the EA says it is preparing to start inspections from 1 January 2015.

Rebecca Favager, Waste and Resources Manager at NRW told Resource: “It’s important that recycling sites operate in a way that does not harm the local environment. New regulations mean that from January 2015, we will inspect and audit these sites to check their sampling procedures and to confirm that what the operator has told us about their activities is accurate.

“Our officers will look at how materials are sampled and analysed on site, check that the appropriate standards are being used and advise if improvements are needed. This will improve reporting on the quality of materials produced by material facilities to enhance recycling in Wales.”

Find out more about the MF Regulations and inspection regime.

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