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Paragraph 9 Authorisation conditions: prohibition of acceptance of certain waste at landfillsF1

(1)

SEPA must ensure that a permit for a landfill activity includes such conditions as it considers appropriate to ensure that the following types of waste are not accepted at the landfill—

(a)

any waste in liquid form (including waste waters but excluding sludge),

(b)

waste, which in the conditions of landfill, is explosive, corrosive, oxidising, flammable or highly flammable,

(c)

hospital and other clinical wastes which arise from medical or veterinary establishments, and which are infectious,

(d)

chemical substances arising from research and development or teaching activities, such as laboratory residues, which are not new or identified, and the effects of which on humans or on the environment are not known,

(e)

whole used tyres, other than—

(i)

tyres used as engineering material,

(ii)

bicycle tyres,

(iii)

tyres with an outside diameter above 1,400 mm,

(f)

shredded tyres other than—

(i)

bicycle tyres,

(ii)

tyres with an outside diameter above 1,400 mm,

(g)

waste industrial or automotive batteries,

(h)

waste which has been collected and transported in accordance with section 34(2I) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and is capable of being recycled,

(i)

as from 31 December 2025, biodegradable municipal waste,

(j)

any waste which does not fulfil the relevant waste acceptance criteria.

(2)

Sub-paragraph (1)(a) does not prohibit temporary storage of mercury waste for more than one year at a landfill,

(3)

Sub-paragraph (1)(g) does not prohibit the acceptance of residues of any batteries that have undergone both treatment and recycling, provided that treatment and recycling—

(a)

used best available techniques, in terms of the protection of health and the environment, and

(b)

complied, at a minimum, with legal requirements, in particular as regards health and safety and waste management,

(4)

SEPA must ensure that a permit for a landfill activity includes such conditions as it considers appropriate to ensure that the landfill is not used for the disposal of waste which has been diluted or mixed solely to meet the relevant waste acceptance criteria.

(5)

For the purposes of this paragraph, waste is—

  • “biodegradable municipal waste” if it consists of municipal waste that is also biodegradable waste, but does not include waste—

    1. (a)

      that is treated, and either—

      1. (i)

        respiration activity after a static respiration test is less than 10 milligrams of oxygen for each gram of dry material, or

      2. (ii)

        dynamic respiration over one hour is less than 1000 milligrams of oxygen for each kilogram of volatile solids,

    2. (b)

      that is incinerated, and the total organic carbon content is less than 5%,

  • “corrosive” if it consists of substances and preparations which may destroy living tissue on contact,

  • “explosive” if it is capable by chemical reaction of producing gas at such a temperature and pressure and at such a speed as to cause damage to surroundings, and includes—

    1. (a)

      pyrotechnic waste,

    2. (b)

      explosive organic peroxide waste,

    3. (c)

      explosive self-reactive waste,

  • “flammable” if it consists of—

    1. (a)

      flammable liquid waste having a flash point below 60°C,

    2. (b)

      waste gas oil, diesel, and light heating oils having a flashpoint greater than 50°C or less than or equal to 75°C,

    3. (c)

      flammable pyrophoric liquid and solid waste or liquid waste which even in small quantities is liable to ignite within five minutes of coming into contact with air,

    4. (d)

      flammable solid waste which is readily combustible or may cause or contribute to fire through friction,

    5. (e)

      flammable gaseous waste which is flammable in air at 20°C and a standard pressure of 101.3kPa,

    6. (f)

      water reactive waste which, in contact with water, emits flammable gases in dangerous quantities,

    7. (g)

      other flammable aerosols, flammable self-heating waste, flammable organic peroxides and flammable self-reactive waste,

  • “highly flammable” if it consists of—

    1. (a)

      liquid substances and preparations having a flash point below 21°C (including extremely flammable liquids),

    2. (b)

      substances and preparations which may become hot and finally catch fire in contact with air at ambient temperature without any application of energy,

    3. (c)

      solid substances and preparations which may readily catch fire after brief contact with a source of ignition and which continue to burn or to be consumed after removal of the source of ignition,

    4. (d)

      gaseous substances and preparations which are flammable in air at normal pressure,

    5. (e)

      substances and preparations which, in contact with water or damp air, evolve highly flammable gases in dangerous quantities,

  • “infectious” if it consists of substances containing viable micro-organisms or their toxins which are known or reliably believed to cause disease in humans or other living organisms,

  • “mercury waste” means mercury that is waste, and without prejudice to that definition, mercury and mercury compounds, whether in pure form or in mixtures, from any of the following sources are considered to be waste—

    1. (a)

      the chlor-alkali industry,

    2. (b)

      the cleaning of natural gas,

    3. (c)

      non-ferrous mining and smelting operations,

    4. (d)

      extraction from cinnabar ore,

  • “oxidising” if it consists of substances and preparations which exhibit highly exothermic reactions when in contact with other substances, particularly flammable substances.

(6)

In this paragraph, a reference to the total organic carbon content of waste is a reference to the total amount of carbon bound in organic compounds in the waste.

Annotations

Textual amendments

F1

Sch. 13 inserted (1.11.2025) by The Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Amendment Regulations 2025 (S.S.I. 2025/165), reg. 1(2), sch. 4 (with sch. 23)