3. Waste pre-acceptance, acceptance and tracking appropriate measures
The appropriate measures for waste pre-acceptance, acceptance and tracking at regulated facilities with an environmental permit for the treatment or transfer of WEEE.
1. Except in the case of small one-off deliveries of WEEE, for example from tradespeople, you must implement waste pre-acceptance procedures so that you know enough about a waste before it arrives at your facility. You need to do this to assess and confirm the waste is technically and legally suitable for your facility. Your procedures must follow a risk-based approach, considering:
- the source and nature of the waste
- any hazardous properties and persistent organic pollutant (POPs) content
- potential risks to process safety, occupational safety and the environment (for example, from the presence of hazardous substances that could be dispersed during treatment)
- knowledge about the previous waste holder
- the type of containment used for the waste
2. You must get the following information in writing when you receive a customer query:
- details of the waste producer (who you are receiving the waste from) including organisation name, address and contact details
- where the waste is coming from
- full description of the waste including the quantity
- the List of Waste code (European Waste Classification, EWC, code)
- any hazardous properties or presence of any regulated chemicals, for example, POPs
- if WEEE identified as POPs waste in the guidance on how to classify WEEE is described as not being a POPs waste, you should request evidence of the assessment demonstrating this
- with reference to Annex VII of the WEEE Directive, details of any treatment already undertaken
You can verify the pre-acceptance information by contacting or visiting the waste producer. Dealing with staff directly involved in waste production can help to fully characterise a waste.
3. You should consider with your customer whether the WEEE is suitable for preparing for reuse. Where that remains a possibility, you should ensure the WEEE is handled and transported with care to avoid any damage or loss that could affect reuse.
4. You must also obtain confirmation that the WEEE does not contain a radioactive source other than domestic smoke detectors and specialist lamps such as xenon lamps. If there is a risk of radioactive contamination, for example, in certain types of medical equipment, you must obtain confirmation that the waste is not radioactive, unless your facility is permitted to accept such waste.
5. You must consider whether specific wastes, from among those you are permitted to receive, have properties that can pose unacceptable risks to the site or process. For example, due to:
- a risk of explosion (for example, from gas or aerosol canisters that may be present)
- a risk of fire (for example, from WEEE containing lithium-ion batteries)
You should establish a list of such wastes and procedures for managing the risks from them.
6. You must keep pre-acceptance records following receipt of the waste. If an enquiry from a waste producer does not lead to the receipt of waste, you do not need to keep records.
7. You must reassess the information required at pre-acceptance if the:
- waste changes
- process giving rise to the waste changes
- waste received does not conform to the pre-acceptance information
8. In all cases you must reassess the information required at pre-acceptance on an annual basis.
9. The information required, and the assessment made at the pre-acceptance stage is to make sure you:
- only accept wastes that are suitable for the site
- avoid unnecessarily accumulating waste
- have enough storage and treatment capacity
1. You must implement waste acceptance procedures to check that the characteristics of the waste received matches the information you obtained during waste pre-acceptance. This is to confirm that the waste is as expected, and you can accept it. If it is not, you must confirm that you can accept it as a non-conforming waste, or you must reject it. If you are rejecting hazardous waste you must follow the guidance on the procedure for rejecting hazardous waste. Procedures should be documented and auditable.
2. Your procedures must follow a risk-based approach, considering:
- the source, nature, condition and age of the waste
- any hazardous properties of the waste
- any POPs content in the waste
- potential risks to process safety, occupational safety and the environment (for example, the presence of lithium-ion batteries)
- knowledge about the previous waste holders
3. If, in the case of small one-off deliveries of WEEE (for example those from tradespeople) you have not received any pre-acceptance information, you must fully assess the load to make sure it is technically and legally suitable for your process.
Storage areas
4. All relevant storage areas (quarantine, reception and general) and treatment processes in your facility must have the physical capacity needed for the waste you receive. You must not receive wastes if this capacity is not available. The amount of waste you receive must also comply with storage limits in your permit.
5. The waste offloading, reception and quarantine areas must have impermeable surfaces with a sealed drainage system. This system must collect all surface water run-off and channel it to a blind sump unless you can lawfully discharge it.
6. You must clearly designate a materials reception area (or areas). Staff controlling the inspection, reception and validation of materials at the facility, must be trained in their respective roles.
Waste acceptance
7. You must weigh each load of waste on arrival to confirm the quantities against the accompanying paperwork, unless alternative reliable systems are available (for example, based upon volume). You must record the weight in the waste tracking system.
8. You must visually check wastes and verify them against pre acceptance information and transfer documentation before you accept them on site.
9. You must check and validate all transfer documentation and resolve discrepancies before you accept the waste. If you believe the incoming waste classification and description is incorrect or incomplete, then you must address this with the customer during waste acceptance. You must record any non-conformances. If you have assessed the waste as acceptable for on-site storage or treatment, you must document this.
10. You must have clear criteria that you use to reject non-conforming wastes. You must also have a written procedure for recording, reporting and tracking non-conforming wastes, including notifying the relevant customer or waste producer to prevent reoccurrence.
11. The person carrying out waste acceptance checks must be trained to effectively identify and manage any non-conformances in the loads received, complying with this guidance and your permit conditions.
12. If there is a known risk of radioactive contamination other than the presence of smoke detectors and certain specialist lamps such as xenon lamps, you must check the waste to determine that it does not include radioactive material unless your site is permitted to accept that type of radioactive waste.
Quarantine storage
13. You must establish quarantine areas for WEEE and materials that are prohibited, awaiting full inspection, or awaiting assessment or removal.
14. Quarantine storage must be for a maximum of fourteen working days.
15. You must have written procedures in place for dealing with wastes held in quarantine, and a maximum storage volume. For some limited and specific cases (for example, the detection of radioactivity), you can extend quarantine storage time if the Environment Agency agrees.
16. Quarantine storage must be separate from all other storage and clearly marked as a quarantine area.
1. You must use a waste tracking system to hold up to date information about the available capacity of the waste quarantine, reception, general and bulk storage areas of your facility. This must include treatment residues and end of waste product materials.
2. Your waste tracking system must hold all the information generated during:
- pre-acceptance
- acceptance
- non-conformance or rejection
- storage
- treatment
- removal off site
This information must be readily accessible.
3. You must create records and update them to reflect deliveries, on-site treatment and despatches. This can be done on a ‘loads received’ basis. Your tracking system will also operate as a waste inventory and stock control system. It must include this information as a minimum:
- the date the waste arrived on site
- the producer’s details (or unique identifier)
- a unique reference number
- waste pre-acceptance and acceptance information
- the quantity delivered
- the intended treatment route
- accurate records of the nature and quantity of wastes held on site, including all hazards – and identifying the primary hazards and presence of any regulated chemicals such as POPs
- where the waste is physically located on site
4. The tracking system must be able to report:
- the total quantity of waste present on site at any one time
- a breakdown by type of the waste quantities you are storing pending treatment or transfer
- the quantity of waste on site compared with the limits authorised by your permit
- the length of time the waste has been on site
- the quantity of end-of-waste product materials on site at any one time and, where applicable, details of any non-conformances and rejections
5. You must store back-up copies of electronic records off site. Records must be readily accessible in an emergency.
6. You must hold pre-acceptance and acceptance records for a minimum of 2 years after you have treated the waste or removed it off site. You may have to keep some records for longer if they are required for other purposes, for example, hazardous waste consignment notes.