Consultation on Biological waste treatment guidance

The Environment Agency have issued a consultation on their ‘Appropriate Measures for the biological treatment of waste’ guidance. This is a very important document as it will apply to all permitted facilities (i.e. standard rules and bespoke permits) who treat biological waste (including composting, AD, MBT, sewage sludge treatment) and the storage of compost and digestate and aerated lagoons and activated sludge.

The guidance incorporates the requirements of the Waste Treatment BREF and the BAT conclusions and the EA say that it aims to improve the design and operation of permitted facilities and make sure that appropriate measures are applied consistently, where relevant.

The finalised guidance will be statutory and therefore facilities will be expected to comply with the details. You can download the consultation and draft guidance here.

The deadline for responses is 21st August. We would like members comments as soon as possible, preferably by 10th August so we can collate comments and circulate a draft response. Please use this form to record your comments and then please to Jenny.

We are holding a webinar for members on Friday, 31st July at 10:30am to talk through the guidance, when it applies and highlight some of the key requirements.  Join us to find out more information and to let us know any areas that concern you.  We don’t plan to talk you through the whole document (all 86 pages!) but will focus on certain key areas. Following this webinar, we will draft a response and circulate it to members for further comment prior to submission.