This page provides links to the full text of key pieces of waste environmental legislation that may affect your business in Wales. The websites hosting the legislation may list amendments separately.
Waste legislation for Wales controls the generation, transportation and disposal of waste within the European Union and the shipment of waste into and out of the EU. It covers controlled waste, duty of care, registration of carriers and brokers, environmental permitting, landfill, hazardous waste, producer responsibility, packaging waste, end-of-life vehicles, waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and the transfrontier shipment of waste.
On 6 April 2008, environmental permitting legislation replaced waste management licensing legislation in England and Wales.
If you are setting up an environmental management system (EMS) for your business, you can use this list to start compiling your legal register. Your legal adviser or environmental consultant will be able to tell you if other environmental legislation applies to your specific business.
Environmental management systems and environmental reports
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Regulates the collection, transportation, storage, handling, processing and disposal of animal by-products and requires records to be kept for at least two years.
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Introduces additional noise, litter and waste controls including site waste management plans, and classifies artificial lighting and insects as statutory nuisances.
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Requires carriers of controlled waste to register with the Environment Agency or SEPA and outlines the penalties (including seizure and disposal) for vehicles shown to have been used for illegal waste disposal.
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Defines household, industrial and commercial waste for waste management licensing purposes.
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Amends 1992/588 in relation to scrap metal.
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Details the system for seizing vehicles used in the commission of waste offences. Establishes a registration system for carriers of controlled waste and provides for the seizure of vehicles used in waste offences.
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Requires end-of-life vehicles and their components to be recycled or reused. Sets out design requirements for materials and components. Outlines measures for collection systems and treating and storing waste vehicles at authorised treatment facilities.
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Requires vehicle producers to set up collection, treatment and disposal systems to make sure that components in vehicles can be recovered, reused and recycled at the end of their life.
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Guidance on End-of-Life Vehicles Regulations 2003
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Amends 2003/2635 by changing the basis on which exemptions from the restrictions on use of heavy metals in vehicle components are identified. Also provides powers of entry and inspection for the enforcement authorities.
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Requires vehicle producers to register and declare responsibility for vehicles they place on the market and apply for approval of their system of collecting vehicles.
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Amends 2005/263 by making changes to requirements for reporting details of reuse, recycling and recovery rates.
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Establishes the Environment Agency and SEPA as the regulatory bodies for contaminated land, control of pollution, conservation or enhancement of the environment and fisheries.
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Guidance on Environment Act 1995
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Allows the environmental regulator to impose civil sanctions on a business committing certain environmental offences, as an alternative to prosecution and criminal penalties of fines and imprisonment.
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Amends 2010/1821 to set out the offences for which civil sanctions may be imposed.
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Defines within England, Scotland and Wales the legal framework for duty of care for waste, contaminated land and statutory nuisance.
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Sets the framework for legal controls on animal by-products.
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Establishes procedures and control regimes for shipping waste depending on its origin, destination and route, and the type of waste and treatment that will be applied.
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Details requirements for controlling and tracking the movement of hazardous waste and bans mixing different types of hazardous waste.
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Amends 2005/1806 by increasing the maximum limit of hazardous waste that can be produced in any year without registering with the regulator from 200kg to 500kg, and clarifies other aspects.
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Provides the European Waste Catalogue list of codes used to classify wastes.
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Sets out essential requirements for packaging which apply to packaging producers, sellers and distributors, including enforcement, offences and penalties.
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Amends 2003/1491 to update the definition of packaging.
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Amends 2003/1941 by substituting a new definition of ‘packaging’ and making indefinite the conditions for a derogation for glass packaging in relation to heavy metal concentration levels.
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Amends 2003/1941 by removing 4th March 2009 expiry date for the derogation (permission to carry out an otherwise banned activity) on maximum heavy metal concentration levels for plastic crates or pallets.
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Requires producers to recover and recycle packaging waste to achieve EU targets.
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Amends 2007/871, establishing waste recovery and recycling targets for 2011 and 2012 and making other technical changes.
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Guidance on Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging Waste) Regulations 2007
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Amends 2007/871 to increase the recovery and recycling targets for 2008, 2009 and 2010 (the recycling target for paper/board and wood are unchanged).
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Establishes a system of authorisation and approval for shipping radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel between member states and into and out of the EU.
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Sets out rules for shipping waste, including within the European Community and importing and exporting to and from countries outside the EC.
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Guidance on Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007
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Amends 2007/1711 by introducing new penalties for failing to provide proper documentation when exporting waste for recovery.
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Establishes a legal framework and schemes for collecting, treating and recycling portable, industrial and vehicle batteries. Applies to all types of batteries except when used for military and space equipment.
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Aims to reduce the amount of WEEE sent to landfill. Requires producers of electrical and electronic equipment to register and cover the costs of collecting, treating, recovering and disposing of equipment when it reaches the end of its life.
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Amends 2006/3289 to encourage prioritising re-use of whole appliances in the WEEE system.
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Amends 2006/3289 by improving the Producer Compliance Scheme approval process and reducing the administrative burden on business by simplifying the data reporting requirements and the evidence system.
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Corrects a defect in 2009/2957 by requiring producers of electrical and electronic equipment for domestic use to report details quarterly, and annually for all other EEE.
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Amends 2006/3289 replacing ‘dangerous substance or preparation’ with ‘dangerous substance or mixture’ and (as from 1 December 2010 and 1 June 2015) substitutes new definitions of ‘dangerous substance or mixture’.
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Requires businesses to apply the waste management hierarchy, introduces a two-tier system for waste carrier and broker registration, and excludes some categories of waste from waste controls. Amends the Hazardous Waste Regulations 2005.
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Extends the regime for 'controlled waste' to cover mine, quarry and agricultural waste. Categorises waste as household, industrial or commercial. Bans householders from treating, keeping, disposing of controlled waste if it could pollute the environment.
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Amends 1992/55 and 1994/1056 by classifying (along with other legislation) scrap metal as controlled waste for duty of care under the Environmental Protection Act 1995.
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