waste carriers licence

[High Scale]

I sometimes tip a borrowed 7.5 truck full of wood waste at a organics recycling site, they told me if you ever come in and see loads of hi viz coats about turn around and drive out, but otherwise, you want to tip? that will be twenty three quid please.

[Andy Collins]

It was more of a collective thing about the moaning, what I mean is basically that we cant have our cake AND eat it, well not without sorting thru rafts of paperwork, and having to pay for it.

[Quickthorn]

It was this line that most interested me.

"If you carry waste produced by your own business you don’t usually need to register, unless you produce construction or demolition waste."

Surely that is an adequate get-out unless you are demolishing trees!

 

I have one. It was £150. I only needed it in place so I could quote for a job that involved carting a few straw bales to a composting site. I didn't get that job, because I was undercut... by around £150.

 

"produced by your own business" was the test I used for not having one years ago. I used to be able to tip at a composting site run by WRG without having to show any licence (in fact, it as the manager that told me I didn't need one). Since then, the EA have redefined the meaning of "produced by your own business". They told me (a year or so ago) that, the customer - not me - produces the waste by ordering the work to be done. The only situation you, the contractor, can say that you produced the waste is if you had, say, a wide ranging maintenance contract, where you decided what had to be done.

 

And, yes, we should be applying for a waste management licencing regs exemption for every time we chip anything .. or burn anything, for that matter.

[Topcat]

I don't have one, If I get stopped by the EA I'm carrying goods usually logs and chip but if I get stopped by the ministry men it's waste not goods and be careful of the red diesel crew. A unimog is a tractor and tractors only pull,push or power they don't actually carry anything, which is a bit difficult when you have a chip box. Nearly got caught out on that point, So I suggested they stop every combine or beet machine, if they had one grain of corn or one sugar beet on board they would have to do them aswell. The guy said good point on your way.

 

I'm not tight I just get so pi**ed off with all the red tape,it's become something of a game.hehe

[Lee Winger]

we crave credibility as a profession, try and distance ourselves from the "pikies" for want of a better word, then we moan about a bit of paperwork.

 

I agree 100%, but when we are not financialy rewarded for being ''proffesional''

and the rogues go through life without any fear of prosecution it all seems a waste of time..

[Mr Ed]

I agree 100%, but when we are not financialy rewarded for being ''proffesional''

and the rogues go through life without any fear of prosecution it all seems a waste of time..

 

Or the situation where different bodies and councils have different interpretations of the law....?

[Lee Winger]

Very true!

[skyhuck]

I'm told certain local authority's will insist woodchip / timber is waste, unless you can prove you purchased it from the customer. Kinda daft.

 

Daft yes,do charity shops sell waste? I think not, to say the fact that you did not pay for something makes it waste is utter nonsence,some of these officials speak from some where other than their mouths.

 

I have not got one and will not be getting one!

[wills-mill]

I spoke to Envirowise, the Government's helpline on this issue in Feb 2006. I was concerned about my situation as I remove quite a bit of timber from other contractors work sites for milling. I realise that moving timber from away from site in sawmill friendly lumps is on the whole a slightly different game than chip, log, and sweepings but their e-mail brought up some interesting points:

 

You operate a portable sawmill and want to find out whether you need a waste

transfer licence or waste carrier's licence in order to move wood to a

different site.

 

Circular 11/94 re: Environmental Protection Act 1990 - Waste Management

Licensing

states that the purpose of the EC Directive is to treat as waste "those

substances or objects which fall out of the commercial cycle or out of the

chain of utility"

 

For a substance or object to be waste it must be discarded, disposed of or

got rid of by the holder.

 

To help determine whether a substance or object has been discarded the

following questions may be asked:

 

"Can the substance or object be used in its present form (albeit after

repair) or in the same way as any other raw material without being subject

to 'a specialised recovery operation' and is likely to be so used?

 

"Can the substance or object be used only after it has been subjected to a

specialised recovery operation?

 

Timber for sawmilling is clearly a raw material and not a waste. The answer

to the first question is 'yes'.

 

Further, sawmilling is NOT listed as a waste disposal or recovery operation

under Schedule 4 - Waste Framework Directive of SI 1994 no. 1056. The answer

to the second question is therefore 'no'.

 

The List of Wastes (England) Regulations 2005 (Statutory Instrument 2005 No.

895) includes the following:

 

02 01 03 plant-tissue waste

 

02 01 07 wastes from forestry

 

03 01 01 waste bark and cork

 

03 01 05 sawdust, shavings etc.

 

I assume that you are not concerned with the disposal of leaves or branches

too small to yield useful timber, but do have to dispose of bark and

sawdust. This can be used as mulch.

 

The spreading of waste wood, bark or other plant matter on land is exempt

from Waste Management Licensing if of "benefit to agriculture or ecological

improvement". This would cover mulching activities.

 

The burning of wood as fuel is also an exempt activity, so you can dispose

of offcuts as firewood without problems.

 

A waste transfer licence is required by a carrier in order to carry other

peoples' waste. The timber you obtain is not waste. Bark and sawdust

generated by your sawmilling operations is your own waste and you do not

require a waste transfer licence to transport it in your own vehicles. As it

is in demand for mulching, it could be argued that it is not waste but a

byproduct.

 

The regulations were amended last year and the guidance notes are at present

only published as drafts. "Guidance to Businesses" is available on the

website: http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/management/

 

I suggest that you look at the final guidance notes, when published, to

check that there are no changes that might affect you.

 

 

If you feel that further assistance is required, please do not hesitate to

call the Environment and Energy Helpline on 0800 585794.

 

Their statement is that timber large enough for milling is not waste, logs are not waste, and chip and dust (though waste) are exempt if used for mulch. Where's the waste??

[skyhuck]

Thankyou wills-mills,often it is not the legislation that is at fault,but jobsworths who like to over apply it.