80 Per Cent of Garages Unaware of New Waste Regulations Says GRM

“The new regulations really do affect everybody,” says GRM Managing Director Tracey Kelsall-Brown. “Routine servicing products including oils, greases, coolant and anti-freezes now come into the hazardous waste category and garages have no option but to register with The Environment Agency or face a fine. In addition, tyres, which were previously categorised as ‘special waste’ are now subject to the hazardous waste legislation.”

The previous Special Waste Regulations 1996 were repealed on July 16 2005, being replaced by the Hazardous Waste Regulation 2005. While this new regime controls and tracks the movement of hazardous wastes, it is little known and a report by The Environment Agency revealed that fewer than 30% of businesses knew about the new regulations. The key facts can be summarised as follows:

* A new term “hazardous waste” replaces the previous term of “special waste”.

* Hazardous wastes are defined by reference to the List of Wastes (England) Regulations 2005.

* The mixing of hazardous waste is banned, unless it is permitted as part of a disposal or recovery operation.

* It is an offence to remove hazardous waste from premises which have not been notified to the Environment Agency, unless they are exempt premises or the waste has been fly-tipped.

* It is mandatory for documents to be completed whenever hazardous waste is removed from premises.

* The requirement to register with The Environment Agency applies to all businesses producing or generating more than 200kg of hazardous waste annually.

* It is illegal to fly-tip, burn or send whole tyres to landfill sites.

* The composition of the tyre must be changed in order to make it suitable for recycling (e.g. the rubber must be shredded).

* Shredded tyres will be banned from landfill sites with effect from July 2006.

* Businesses producing waste tyres have a duty of care to ensure that they are only transferred to an authorised person together with a waste transfer note.

Continued Ms Kelsall-Brown, “The new legislation can seem draconian at first sight and there is no doubt that it places a significant burden on companies, particularly in the garage and aftermarket sectors. This is the rationale behind the introduction of a specially formulated GRM Hazardous Waste Workshop that we are immediately making available on a national basis.
Key features are its comprehensive nature, user-friendly format and it costs £100+VAT per delegate.

Everyone attending will have a thorough grounding in the new legislation, how it affects their company and how to comply with the requirements of the new regime. A further service we are offering is to register companies with the Environment Agency for just £25, so this course can really become a one-stop-shop covering every aspect of hazardous waste.”

The GRM Hazardous Waste Workshop is fully comprehensive key features are as follows:

• Overview to waste legislation
• Definition of hazardous waste
• How to determine which wastes fall into the hazardous category
• How to register as a producer of hazardous waste
• Selecting an authorised waste contractor
• How to complete consignment note documentation
• Ensuring ‘Duty of Care’.

Concluded Mrs Kelsall-Brown, “At GRM we cannot stress too strongly the importance of the garage trade taking on board the new hazardous waste regime. As we have seen in other industry sectors, this legislation is being firmly enforced and lack of knowledge is no defence.”