13 July 2006

Inert waste vital for sustainable aggregates industry

The Quarry Products Association (QPA), which represents over 90% of the UK aggregates industry, has released a position statement underlining the importance of inert waste for the restoration of extraction workings. The QPA has called for government to class inert waste use in restoration as "recovery", rather than disposal, and to create a fair regulatory regime for inert waste management.

Although the UK leads Europe in secondary and recycled aggregates production, these materials alone cannot meet demands for aggregates either in quantity or quality. As such, the continuing extraction of primary aggregates remains essential for society's needs. Permissions to extract minerals are contingent on the operator's ability to restore sites to a beneficial afteruse, and inert waste is used in this process.

However, the use of inert waste for restoration is becoming increasingly threatened by government's unnecessarily restrictive regulations. This is impacting on operators' ability to restore quarries and so gain new permissions for extraction. If operators are not able to use inert waste for the purposes of restoration, up to 30 million tonnes of primary aggregates may be at risk each year.

While use of inert waste in restoration remains classified as disposal, the industry faces a growing burden of excessive regulation compared to the risk that the use of inert waste presents to the environment. QPA estimates there has been a 30% decrease in the amount of inert material accepted at Pollution Prevention Control (PPC) permitted inert landfills, thought to be predominantly due to the effects of Waste Acceptance Criteria (WAC) testing. WAC tests carry a significant cost burden and test turnaround times are a hindrance, particularly for inert waste produced in small volumes or from emergency excavations such as utilities works. Because of this, waste producers dispose of waste at non-PPC permitted sites where testing is not required, reducing the availability of inert waste for quarry restoration. Current estimates indicate a 16 million tonne per annum deficit in the availability of inert waste for quarry restoration.

Additional burdens come from the unnecessary restrictive interpretation of the Groundwater Directive and the need to line inert landfills with clay due to the supposed risk of contaminated "rogue loads". Government must continue to strengthen Duty of Care responsibilities and target enforcement on waste producers who intentionally attempt to dispose of non-inert materials at inert sites.

The QPA believes action to address these effects is urgently required to ensure that continuing supplies of aggregate are available to meet society's needs. The QPA's Environment and Mineral Planning Committee Chairman Nigel Jackson says: "if the materials required for quarry restoration are not available, the future ability to extract minerals is increasingly at risk. There must be recognition from government that the use of inert waste for restoration is a recovery activity, and it must be proportionately regulated as such. Restoration using inert waste contributes significantly to the aims of sustainable development by returning land to agricultural, recreational and conservation uses, and enabling a beneficial use of inert wastes."

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. For more information please contact Tim Parry by tel: 0207 9638000 or e-mail parry@qpa.org
2. Link to the Full Report and to the Executive Summary.

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