CHANGES TO THE HAZARDOUS WASTE REGULATIONS FROM 1ST APRIL

There are 2 features of the Hazardous Waste Regulations changing as from 1st April 2016, the major change being that producers of hazardous waste in England will no longer need to register their premises with the Environment Agency. The format of the unique consignment note code, which appears on every consignment note, will also change. These changes only apply to England and are a result of the Strategic Smarter Environment Regulation Review. Currently, organisations that produce or store 500kg or more hazardous waste per year have to register the premises with the Environment Agency, from 1st April 2016 they will no longer need to do this. However, these companies must continue to have a valid registration to cover them up until 1st April 2016. As a result of the removal of premises registration, the format of the consignment note code will also have to change. The first 6 letters of the consignment note code, which is currently the premises registration number, will be replaced with the first six letters or number (not symbols) of the company name. Companies whose name is less than six letters will have a filler letter to insert in the remaining spaces. In addition to this, ‘exempt’ will no longer be used on consignment notes. The second set of characters will continue to be five numbers or letters of the company’s choosing. The requirement for the SIC code on the consignment note will also change. Consignment notes still need to be produced in the current format up until 1st April 2016. There have been some concerns raised regarding clarity where several companies have the same first six letters, (E.G National) which the EA have addressed as they will still be able to identify the company using the postcode If you need any advice regarding these changes, please contact us on 011 8 916 7340 or sales@biogenie.co.uk and we’ll be happy to talk you through the new process. Alternatively, you can contact the EA through their National Customer Contact Centre (NCCC) (enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk) or by telephone on 03708 506 506.