The requirements, which are a part of the Waste (Recyclate Quality) (Scotland) Regulations 2015, mirror similar legislation in place in England and Wales, which have been in effect for 12 months. The aim of the legislation is to improve the quality of materials entering the market.
MRF operators in Scotland have been informed of their obligations through the ‘Code of Practice on Sampling and Reporting at Materials Recovery Facilities’ was also published by the Scottish Government in March as well as guidance on the legislations published by Zero Waste Scotland last month (see letsrecycle.com story).
Developed jointly by Zero Waste Scotland and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) the Materials Recovery Facilities Testing and Reporting Guidance, provides assistance for permit holders with the introduction of sampling and testing regimes in line with the requirements of the MRF Code of Practice.
Ahead of this, Zero Waste Scotland has also provided grant funding for MRF operators to purchase the equipment needed to enable them to meet the requirements of the code.
Obligations
The Code applies to facilities that receive, or are likely to receive, 1,000 tonnes or more of mixed dry recyclable materials (comprising of two or more materials) or separately collected dry recyclable waste for sorting, over a 12 month period.
Compliance with the regulations by MRF operators is seen as being be key to their effectiveness – with only 85 of the estimated 160 MRFs thought to be covered by the regulations having met their obligations to report data in England and Wales – according to figures published last week (see letsrecycle.com story).
Commenting on the regulations, Gary Walker, principal policy officer for the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), said: “This data will be crucial in helping SEPA understand the issues that MRF operators face with contamination and the role of the whole supply chain – from collection, treatment, and onwards to end markets – in managing the quality of recycled material.”
Resource Association chief executive Ray Georgeson, added: “The Resource Association welcomes the introduction of the Scottish MRF Code of Practice coming into force today. While much of the provision is very similar to that in force in England and Wales, we are pleased to note the commitments made by the Scottish Government and SEPA to improved levels of transparency around the end destination of recyclate and hope to see more detail soon.
“We also note that SEPA have indicated a commitment to a rapid acceleration of compliance by Scottish MRFs in relation to data provision and hopefully we won’t see a repeat of the sluggish start towards full compliance that we have seen in the implementation of the MF Regulations in England.”
Subscribe for free