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Pre-treatment Requirement
Under the Landfill Regulations introduced in 2002 in England and Wales and 2003 in Scotland, a new requirement was imposed on all waste disposed of in landfill from 30 October 2007.
What is the function of this requirement?
Under the pre-treatment requirements, no landfill site can accept waste unless it has been pre-treated.
Waste will be considered to be pre-treated if it has undergone a physical, thermal or biological process, including sorting that changes the characteristics of the waste. Pre-treating should reduce the mass of the waste, reduce its hazardous nature, facilitate its handling, or enhance its recovery.
What Is The Reason For These Requirements?
The requirement is part of a package of measures in the Landfill Directive designed to:
· Increase waste recycling and recovery.
· Reduce potentially polluting emissions from landfill
The Directive challenges producers to think about routes for disposal of their waste and this should boost recovery and recycling.
Does This Apply To My Company?
The pre-treatment requirement applies to any business that produces or treats waste before it goes to landfill.
What Do I Have To Do?
For general waste, this requirements means that a proportion of each waste stream must be separated out for recycling or it must go through a sorting facility.
If the waste stream is already a separate collection of a material sent for recycling then your waste satisfies the pre-treatment requirement. |