Consultation outcome

Amendments to the persistent organic pollutants (POPs) regulation

From:
Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs
Published
2 March 2023
Last updated
4 April 2024 — See all updates
This was published under the 2022 to 2024 Sunak Conservative government
This consultation has concluded

Read the full outcome

Summary of responses and government response

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Detail of outcome

The UK Government has responded to the views received during the consultation and intends to proceed with a number of the proposed changes to the POPs Regulations that were set out in the consultation documents.

Other potential amendments to the POPs Regulation will continue to be reviewed moving forward, including in response to generation of new evidence and relevant international decisions and guidelines such as those of the Stockholm and Basel Conventions.

Detail of feedback received

We received 58 responses to this consultation.

Original consultation

Summary

Requesting comments on proposed changes to the persistent organic pollutants (POPs) regulation, including changes to waste limits and specific exemptions.

This consultation was held on another website.

This consultation ran from
to

Consultation description

We are seeking your views on a number of proposed changes to the annexes of the retained regulation (EU) 2019/1021 (as amended by the Persistent Organic Pollutants (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020/1358 and the Persistent Organic Pollutants (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2022/1293) (hereafter ‘the POPs Regulation’).

Some of these changes relate to additions or amendments to the Stockholm Convention which the UK, as party to the convention, must implement. Other amendments are being proposed following reviews of elements of the POPs regulation carried out in 2022, or in response to scientific or technical progress.

The consultation also includes calls for information on other aspects of the POPs Regulation, where the evidence gathered will help inform future potential policy decisions and legislative amendments.

The proposed changes and calls for evidence we are consulting on relate to:

  • amending and/or addition of POPs waste concentration limits for several POPs
  • removal of specific exemptions for several POPs
  • addition of unintentional trace contaminant (UTC) exemption levels for at least two POPs
  • amending and/or removal of UTC exemptions for the POP perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)
  • addition of a new toxic equivalency factor (TEF) for a POP (dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs))
  • amending maximum concentration limits (derogations for permanent waste storage) for several POPs

Updates to this page

Published 2 March 2023
Last updated 4 April 2024 + show all updates

  1. We have added the summary of responses and government response.

  2. Updated to explain the summary of responses and government response will be published later in 2024.

  3. Added a note to explain we are delaying the publication of the summary of responses and government response until late 2023.

  4. First published.

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