About three weeks ago, the European Council confirmed the new rules that will apply for shipments of recycled materials under the revised Waste Shipment Regulations.
Despite Brexit, these new rules may have an impact on the UK and will certainly apply to our Irish Members and others on the European Continent.
I was in Berlin last week for a meeting of the European Recovered Paper Branch (ERPA) of the umbrella trade association EuRIC and also the BVSE Recovered Paper Conference to find out more.
You may know the headlines already that waste plastic exports will be completely banned to non-OECD countries after 2.5 years, although these countries can request the reversal of this ban after five years if they meet certain EU conditions.
Plastics to OECD countries will be permitted, but only under prior informed consent (amber list) and will be subject to scrutiny by the European Commission.
Other currently green list materials such as paper and cardboard, glass and metals will only be able to be exported to non-OECD countries if an audit has been taken of the facilities they are being exported to – this is both a physical and document audit. Part of the discussion at the ERPA meeting was around a submission it wants to make to the European Commission on what that audit will look like.
What about the bits that affect the UK?
As a third country that isn’t part of the EU or European Free Trade Association, we are therefore subject to the rules applying to OECD and Basel Convention signatory countries.
The good news is that this means that the EU will continue to import material for recovery and disposal from the UK as before as both an OECD country and Basel Convention member.
Where it gets more complicated is when it comes to transit when goods enter the EU before being shipped elsewhere.
When shipping to an OECD country via the EU (such as transiting via Rotterdam or Antwerp for example), the same rules as before apply as long as there is tacit consent from the OECD nation but with the following additions:
The first and last competent authority of transit in the EU will inform the customs office of entry and then the customs office of exit of their respective decisions to consent to the shipment, or if they have provided tacit consent, of their acknowledgement
The customs office of exit shall inform the competent authorities of transit in the EU that the material has left the EU
A transit competent authority may require a financial guarantee or equivalent insurance, or additional guarantees or insurance, after having reviewed the amount of any financial guarantee or insurance established by the exporter.
For non-OECD countries, for most materials it will be the same as above for OECD countries. Some materials, such as B3011 plastics, will need prior informed consent unless the destination has given tacit consent. This will also need to be shown to the EU as part of the document submission that will be required to competent authorities in Member States for all waste shipments.
Unlike for EU exporters, it appears that transiting material will not need to meet the audit requirements for end destination facilities.
The practical details of these new rules will come clearer over the coming weeks and months, and I’ll try and help with that clarity when I can.
