LAWR

WASTE COLLECTION TEEP: Will your waste collection services be compliant in 2015? Authorities who collect commingled waste now need to have supporting evidence demonstrating that their services are technically, environmentally or economically practicable (TEEP). SLR Consulting's Bob Couth reviews the impact that the New Year TEEP implementation will have on improving recycling rates as well as on using local taxpayers' money wisely. he TEEP regulations, which form part of The Waste (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2012, have been introduced to improve qual- ity standards for the recycling sector. Effective from last month (1 January 2015), they apply to all operators involved in the collection of waste, including commercial and industrial as well as municipal wastes and transpose Articles 10 and 11 of the revised Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC. Many local authorities in England who collect commingled waste will have been considering whether or not their waste collection services are TEEP compliant. While councils who provide source-separated collections should con- form, many are navigating the prepara- tion of evidence without established rules. Since October 2012 there has been a lot of advice on how the Regulations should apply to commingled collections, and there has been some legal guidance. For example, in March 2013 Justice Hickinbottom of the High Court stated that "the obligation to set up separate collection of paper, metal; plastic and glass from 2015 is restricted by both the practicality and necessity require- ments that also restrict the obligation in Article 10(2) to collect separately for the purposes of recovery". Following this, Lord de Mauley said in October 2013 that the requirements apply where separate collection is neces- sary to provide high quality recyclates and "is technically, environmentally or economically practicable - (TEEP)". This led to the "Route Map" which was published by WRAP in April 2014 and although not guidance, sets out consid- erations for necessity and practicable testing. One of the most helpful documents on TEEP is the Environment Agency 's(EA) 'Separate Collection of Recyclables: Briefing Note' of 27 June 2014. It sum- marises the TEEP requirements for the commingled collection of wastes and states that the EA will take enforce- ment action where necessary, but that they wish to keep this to an absolute minimum. It could be questioned whether the EA have sufficient resources to assess commingled collections for all establish- ments and undertakings in England. It is considered it will only come into the public domain if commingled collection schemes are challenged by the likes of the Campaign for Real Recycling. Commingling is only permissible now where it provides high quality recycling or where separate collection is not prac- ticable. Commissioning bodies need to have documented evidence that their commingled collections are compliant with the Regulations in the form of 'Necessity' and 'Practicality' tests. Since the publication of the WRAP "Route Map," authorities in England who have commingled collection have been assessing, or have employed con- sultants to assess, whether they are TEEP complaint. Considerations The key issue is the quality of the waste. While the EU is promoting high quality waste to encourage the development of the circular economy this does not always mesh with high recycling rates, minimis- ing environmental impact from the ser- vices and getting the best value for money. 10 Local Authority Waste & Recycling February 2015 T " It could be questioned whether the EA have sufficient resources to assess commingled collections for all establishments "

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