Agricultural Waste Plastics Collection and Recovery Programme

Regulations and Responsibilities

Waste management controls
Duty of care
Producer responsibility

1. Waste management controls

On 30 March 2006 Defra announced new regulations to apply waste management controls to agricultural waste for the first time in England and Wales. The new Regulations came into force on 15 May 2006 and apply the same controls on agricultural waste that have applied to all other sectors of industry for many years. These new controls not only strengthen environmental protection but also encourage the minimisation and recycling of agricultural waste. Parallel regulations have also been introduced in Scotland (Waste Scotland Regulations 2005) and Northern Ireland.

2. Duty of care

As part of the extension of the Regulations into the agricultural industry, agricultural waste now falls under the Duty of Care Regulations. This obligates farmers to prevent the unauthorised or harmful deposit of waste, to ensure it is contained and that it is only transferred to an authorised person.

3. Producer responsibility

Three quarters of plastic waste produced on farms each year is non-packaging material such as mulching film, polytunnel covers, silage wrap and sheets, and is not covered by any national Producer Responsibility scheme*. On 21 March 2006 Defra announced plans to develop statutory producer responsibility regulations to increase the collection and recycling of non-packaging farm plastics. The regulations, which will be developed in collaboration with the devolved administrations, would cover England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland will consider introducing regulations following consultation.

* Producer Responsibility is a policy tool, set up by the Government, and is an extension of the “polluter pays” principle, which aims to make sure that businesses that put products on the market take responsibility for those products when they reach the end of their life cycle and become waste.

The aim of the policy is to achieve a more sustainable approach to use of resources and to reduce the quantity of waste going to landfill by diverting ‘end of life’ products for recycling or re-use.



	The Programme Programme News Programme Details Documents FAQs Ag Waste Plastics Regulations Useful Links Useful Documents Press Feedback Request Updates Collectors Reprocessors Collectors Reprocessors	Regulations and Responsibilities Waste management controls Duty of care Producer responsibility 1. Waste management controls On 30 March 2006 Defra announced new regulations to apply waste management controls to agricultural waste for the first time in England and Wales. The new Regulations came into force on 15 May 2006 and apply the same controls on agricultural waste that have applied to all other sectors of industry for many years. These new controls not only strengthen environmental protection but also encourage the minimisation and recycling of agricultural waste. Parallel regulations have also been introduced in Scotland (Waste Scotland Regulations 2005) and Northern Ireland. http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2006/060331b.htm http://www.opsi.gov.uk/legislation/scotland/ssi2005/20050022.htm http://www.agwasteplastics.org.uk/agri/AWP timeline.pdf http://www.ehsni.gov.uk/news/news/news_agri_waste_regs06.shtml back to top 2. Duty of care As part of the extension of the Regulations into the agricultural industry, agricultural waste now falls under the Duty of Care Regulations. This obligates farmers to prevent the unauthorised or harmful deposit of waste, to ensure it is contained and that it is only transferred to an authorised person. http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/444304/1224648/660279/241420/1387827/1226500/?version=1&lang=_e http://www.defra.gov.uk/environment/waste/topics/agwaste/faq.pdf back to top 3. Producer responsibility Three quarters of plastic waste produced on farms each year is non-packaging material such as mulching film, polytunnel covers, silage wrap and sheets, and is not covered by any national Producer Responsibility scheme. On 21 March 2006 Defra announced plans to develop statutory producer responsibility regulations to increase the collection and recycling of non-packaging farm plastics. The regulations, which will be developed in collaboration with the devolved administrations, would cover England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland will consider introducing regulations following consultation. http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2006/060321a.htm http://www.doeni.gov.uk/foi/search/details.asp?docid=3616 Producer Responsibility is a policy tool, set up by the Government, and is an extension of the “polluter pays” principle, which aims to make sure that businesses that put products on the market take responsibility for those products when they reach the end of their life cycle and become waste. The aim of the policy is to achieve a more sustainable approach to use of resources and to reduce the quantity of waste going to landfill by diverting ‘end of life’ products for recycling or re-use. back to top