Failure to gain approval on Waste Recovery Plans and pass the Environment Agency’s strict recovery vs disposal test can be financially crippling so what can you do to ensure you pass?
The EA substitution test
The Environment Agency’s guidance provides three tests to demonstrate that if waste material was not used, you would get the same outcome by using non-waste material in what’s called the ‘substitution test’:
- Evidence of financial gain by using non-waste materials
- Evidence that funding has been secured to cover the expected cost of the work using non-waste
- Evidence that there is an obligation to do the work, for example being required by a planning condition
The evidence required to demonstrate that one of these options can be met needs to be submitted in a Waste Recovery Plan.
Recent success in EA recovery vs disposal test
Wiser Environment has been successful in satisfying the Environment Agency’s strict recovery vs disposal test, not once but twice in quick succession!
Two separate Waste Recovery Plans have been approved for the restoration of quarries in East Anglia with the permanent deposit for recovery of almost 2 million tonnes of inert waste.
Subject to obtaining environmental permits, the restoration of these sites will increase the area of land in productive agriculture and habitat diversification to support and promote local wildlife.
Find out more
With reuse of waste soils and other inert materials playing a key role in the sustainable restoration of quarries and other sites requiring landscaping, the distinction between recovery and deposit of inert waste is critical. If you have a former quarry or an old landfill site that requires restoration, contact us on 01480 462 232 to discuss opportunities for enhanced restoration through the sustainable use of inert waste materials.
