Waste Transfer Licence

[bareroots]

if I'm getting this right, then if moving clean chip and wood we don't need a license but if we have a trailer full of brash or hedge cuttings with 'green waste' we do. Therefore best practise would suggest that we should have one...

 

I feel though if people like Saw Dust have been stopped and the EA have said it's a grey area and not upheld this rule, or if there are regional differences in knowledge, then let it be. Besides, what are they doing, giving you a piece of paper to say that what you're doing is alright when you've already been doing what's alright without a piece of paper for years. It's a bureaucratic system that really repels me. Paper qualifications i can live with because there's training and standards, but with this waste licence there's no education, they aren't improving anything, they are just taking money, giving you a piece of paper and say what you're doing is suddenly alright.

[Mark Cattell]

Waste carriers licence is a nessersary evil, how many times do we all load up arisings from stump grinding?????which is mixed waste and you need a WCL to transport

Waste transfer licence is a different matter.... if you seperate your arisings and store them on site for sale or disposal then get a bit of advise from the EA...

[Mark Cattell]

Paul, why would you say we should have a waste carriers licence to carry clean virgin timber when the EA clearly states they do not view virgin timbers as "waste"?

 

So when felling a dead tree and the timber has no inherrant value and is diseased, the client wants it all taken away and disposed of what will you do????

 

 

I'd get a licence and sleep easy:thumbup1:

[Dean Lofthouse]

I'll get one when the EA put it in simple terms as to whether or not we need one.

 

If the EA reps say its a grey area how the hell do they expect us to understand it.

 

Simplify !!!!

[18 stoner]

So when felling a dead tree and the timber has no inherrant value and is diseased, the client wants it all taken away and disposed of what will you do????

 

Whats wrong with chipping all small stuff and leave on site, log all timber and deliver to customer?

 

My issue is, why does everyone think they need one if you only carry virgin clean timber? Its NOT waste!

[AA Teccie (Paul)]

Hi all,

 

SORRY I've clearly stirred something of a 'hornets nest' here and I fully understand why.

 

BUT woodchip/'greenwaste'(including wood residues) has at least 3 separate 'waste categories/references' hence reagrdless of 'our' interpretation of whether it's waste or not is probably is. The 'exception' to this would be 'virgin wood' BUT this would have to contain NO greenery whatsoever, including buds n shoots (I've been quoted by the EA) nor other 'contaminants', i.e. soil, grass, sweepings etc.

 

There's also a consideration as to 'who' as actually instructed the works and therefore who has responsibility for the 'waste' produced. Simplistically (???) if you have, and therefore (arguably) it's 'your' waste you don't need a licence BUT if someone else has then its there's and you do.

 

Bottom line the whole bl**dy thing is a mess and many EA officers don't understand it themselves...so how can they expect us to???

 

However, it would 'reasonably' appear that at some stage during the course of our mormal work we would be captured by the requiremenst for a waste 'CARRIERS' (not TRANSFER...normally!) licence and therefore we require it for AC status and would always advise all tree surgeons obtain one.

 

As I mentioned earlier these cost are quite reasonable '£140 for 3 years' (£95 renewal) AND if you get 'pulled in' for roadside checks whihc include EA if you've got a 'WASTE CARRIERS LICENCE' (and ideally a Para.21 'exemption certificate' if you store woodchip on your land or land you rent if the landowner don't have one...and they're FOC!) they should simply 'tick the box' and wave you on so you get through quicker and back to earning money!

 

I WHOLLY AGREE IT IS THE PRINCIPLE OF THE MATTER that gripes and if we (the AA) had a bigger voice, i.e. more members/ACs, it is something we(I) would seriously consider challenging.

 

Sorry for the 'waffle' (back to the good old days eh!)

 

Cheers all..

Paul

[Lyn Ed]

every time this issue comes up theres always a big hornets nest stirred, ive got a WCL but ive been told by a couple of guys that for every load you need a transfer note, so that they know where every load is going (not being fly tipped etc ), i got a licence just for peace of mind incase i got pulled, but to be honest i couldnt make head or tail of the rules involved.

[porky]

I also got a Licence out of fear.

But beware the Para.21 'exemption certificate'. Once you have given them this info and its on a Database its there forever for anyone or agency to check. It may be free now but once they have got everybody signed up there is nothing to stop them charging, another nice stealthy tax.

[AA Teccie (Paul)]

Re- Waste TRANSFER Notes, the fairly none commital response I got from the EA Policy Team was that as we weren't transferring 'hazardous' waste, and accepting that most of our waste is recyclable and often has a value, she wasn't recommending we should have them, unlike for the 'CARRIERS' licence. Hence we don't insist on this sytem for ACs BUT we do check where 'waste' goes and what outlets are availbale to the company.

 

That said though several ACs do operate a 'basic' waste transfer note system as they've been advised to do so by their local EA office...another inconsistency...AGHHHHH!!!!

 

Cheers../

Paul

[18 stoner]

The 'exception' to this would be 'virgin wood' BUT this would have to contain NO greenery whatsoever, including buds n shoots (I've been quoted by the EA) nor other 'contaminants', i.e. soil, grass, sweepings etc.

 

Cheers all..

Paul

 

I realise there is lots of this confusion and cross-quoting, but i would like to add a quote directly from EA that i have in writing. I believe this is not confusing but in fact quite clear so i have a copy of this in each truck. Please note "Whole trees";

 

The Environment Agency’s position

Virgin timber is timber from:

•

whole trees and the woody parts of trees including branches and bark derived from forestry works, woodland management, tree surgery and other similar operations (it does not include clippings or trimmings that consist primarily of foliage2);

•

virgin wood processing (e.g. wood offcuts, shavings or sawdust from sawmills) or timber product manufacture dealing in virgin timber.

 

 

 

Virgin timbers are not waste and are not subject to waste regulatory controls provided they are certain to be used for purposes to which virgin wood is commonly put. These include use as:

•

woodchip in gardens or on pathways;

•

a raw material for composting;

•

animal bedding;

•

fuel in an appliance;

•

a raw material for the production of wood-based products or in paper production.

But if virgin timber is mixed with waste timber or any other waste, the mixed load is classed as waste.

 

So, my view is, if the EA dont see "whloe tree" woodchip and logs as "waste" a WCL is not needed.