Guidance

Segregating waste upholstered domestic seating that may contain persistent organic pollutants (POPs) at HWRCs: RPS 266

Updated 29 August 2023

Applies to England

This regulatory position statement (RPS) is for local authorities, or contractors acting on their behalf, who operate one or both of the following, a:

• household waste recycling centre (HWRC)
• bulky waste collection service from households

Waste upholstered domestic seating may contain persistent organic pollutants (POPs).

If you accept waste upholstered domestic seating, unless you have written evidence that it does not contain POPs, you must manage all waste upholstered domestic seating as if it contains POPs. Written evidence could be the results of a specialist test using x-ray fluorescence which shows that the foam and textiles do not contain brominated POPs.

Waste containing POPs or contaminated by them must be sent for destruction at an incinerator, not sent to landfill.

This RPS does not change your legal requirement to take all reasonable steps to avoid contaminating other waste with POPs when you collect, receive and store items of waste upholstered domestic seating:

• at a HWRC
• as part of a bulky waste collection service from households

However, the Environment Agency will not normally take enforcement action against you if you do not comply with this legal requirement when you segregate waste upholstered domestic seating at a HWRC or as part of a bulky waste collection service from households, provided that:

• your activity meets the description set out in this RPS
• you comply with the conditions set out below in this RPS

In addition, your activity must not cause (or be likely to cause) environmental pollution or harm human health, and must not:

• cause a risk to water, air, soil, plants or animals
• cause a nuisance through noise or odours
• adversely affect the countryside or places of special interest

Activity this RPS applies to

Incinerating on or before 31 August 2022

You can use this RPS if you were sending waste upholstered domestic seating for incineration on or before 31 August 2022 with one of these 2 waste types:

• mixed, residual (or bulky) household waste from HWRCs
• bulky waste collected from households

This RPS also allows you to:

• collect and manage fly-tipped waste upholstered domestic seating, that is tipped mixed with other bulky waste of a household type
• accept, store and bulk the 3 mixed wastes containing upholstered domestic seating, providing they meet the conditions set out in the RPS, at a transfer station or treatment site

This RPS does not apply to collecting waste upholstered domestic seating from premises that are not households as part of bulky waste collections.

Landfilling before 31 August 2022

You must not use this RPS if you were sending waste upholstered domestic seating to landfill before 31 August 2022 with one of these waste types:

• mixed, residual (or bulky) household waste from HWRCs
• bulky waste collected from households

Conditions you must comply with

You have notified waste upholstered domestic seating from HWRCs

You must have notified the Environment Agency by email before 31 January 2023 to use this RPS for waste upholstered domestic seating from HWRCs. You must have:

• given the addresses and permit numbers of the HWRCs that will use this RPS – they must be operated by the same organisation, for the same local authority
• submitted a plan which identifies how you will implement the segregation of waste upholstered domestic seating containing POPs

Extending the notification to bulky waste collected from households

If you notified the Environment Agency that you were using this RPS for HWRCs by the 31 January 2023, you may also notify bulky waste collected from households from the same local authority.

You must have emailed the Environment Agency before 30 April 2023 and given the following details:

• the name and address of the local authority
• the name and address of the company or companies operating the bulky waste collection service from households on behalf of that authority – if there is more than one company, the local authority must notify the Environment Agency

You must also submit a plan which identifies how you will implement the segregation of waste upholstered domestic seating containing POPs

What the plan must include and how to send it

Your plan must set out how and when you will implement the segregation of waste upholstered domestic seating at each site.

The plan must include the implementation date. This date must be before this RPS expires on 1 December 2024.

The Environment Agency will review your plan. They may contact you for more information about the plan and to check your progress with implementing it. You must provide this information when requested.

If you have not yet submitted your plan identifying how you will implement the segregation, you must send final plans to the Environment Agency by 29 September 2023 and any further information we request by 31 October 2023.

Email popsinsofas@environment-agency.gov.uk

Collecting, receiving and storing the waste

You must:

• only mix waste upholstered domestic seating with waste type ‘mixed, residual, (or bulky) household waste’ – not any other waste stream like wood or metal
• describe the waste as ‘mixed waste with waste upholstered domestic seating containing POPs’ in your waste transfer note

Sending the waste for destruction

You must send waste upholstered domestic seating and any mixed, residual, (or bulky) household waste with which it has been mixed with, for destruction to a:

• municipal waste incinerator
• hazardous waste incinerator
• cement kiln

In case the incinerator you send the POPs waste to has to shut down, you must make sure that:

• it will not send this waste to landfill
• it will store the waste appropriately while waiting for restart, or send it to another incinerator

Compacting the waste

When compacting this waste, you must take all reasonable measures to minimise releases of any dust or material containing POPs to:

• air
• land
• sewer
• groundwater

Keeping records

You must keep records for 2 years to show that you have complied with this RPS and make these records available to the Environment Agency on request.

When you must check back

The Environment Agency will review the plan submitted for each notification of this RPS by 1 December 2023. You will need to check back then to see if:

• it still applies to you
• the conditions have changed

This RPS will expire on 1 December 2024.

The Environment Agency will withdraw or amend this regulatory position before it expires if they consider it necessary. This includes where the activity that this RPS relates to has not changed.

You will need to check back from time to time, including at and before the expiry date, to see if this RPS still applies.

This RPS remains in force until it is removed from GOV.UK or is otherwise identified as having been withdrawn.

If you cannot comply with this RPS

If you operate under this RPS but can no longer comply with it, you must stop the activity to which this RPS relates and must tell the Environment Agency immediately.

If you stop using this RPS you must take all reasonable steps to avoid contaminating other waste with POPs when you receive and store items of waste upholstered domestic seating at a HWRC.

Email popsinsofas@environment-agency.gov.uk

Contact the Environment Agency

Email popsinsofas@environment-agency.gov.uk