Proposed new Code of Practice on Sampling and Reporting at Materials Facilities

4.1    The Code of Practice

4.1.1 The purpose of the Code of Practice on Sampling and Reporting at Materials Facilities (hereafter referred to as “the Code”) is to set out requirements for MFs operators on the discharge of certain duties, specifically those in the Waste Management Licensing (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2003[1] and the Pollution Prevention and Control (Industrial Emissions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013[2].

4.1.2 The Code will bring Northern Ireland into line with the rest of the UK who already have similar sampling in place. The requirements set out in this consultation are broadly equivalent to those in place in other UK nations.

4.1.3 The legislation to bring in the Code amends the Waste Management Licensing (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2003 and the Pollution Prevention and Control (Industrial Emissions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013 to make compliance with the Code a condition of any waste management licence or Pollution Prevention Control permit (which authorise treatment of such waste material) that is granted or varied by NIEA.

4.1.4 The Code will apply to operators of Materials Facilities (MFs), handling 1,000 tonnes or more of waste material (mixed or single stream) in any reporting year. Under new legislation that will be made following the outcome of this consultation these operators will have to comply with the Code as a condition of their waste-management licence or permit.

4.1.5 The Code places a range of sampling and reporting requirements on the operators of MFs; in particular, it requires them to take samples of the material they handle, both at the input stage and at the output stage (i.e. when it arrives at the Materials Facility (MF) and when it leaves). The operator must report data to DAERA on the composition of each sample, including reporting the weights of individual materials (glass, paper, cardboard, metal, and plastic) contained in each sample.

4.1.6 Facilities handling under 1,000 tonnes of waste material in a reporting year, and Council facilities, are out of scope of the Code.

4.2    Extended Producer Responsibility for Packaging (pEPR)

4.2.1 DAERA has been working collaboratively with the other UK governments to introduce pEPR. pEPR places responsibility on businesses for the environmental impact of their packaging. This is to incentivise recyclability and reuse of packaging, and in turn encourage more domestic reprocessing and overall system improvements and savings.

4.2.2 Packaging EPR will see producers pay to local authorities (via a scheme administrator) for the full net cost of operating an efficient and effective household packaging collection system.

4.2.3 DAERA has consulted twice on the introduction of pEPR in 2019 and 2021 with Defra, the Scottish and Welsh governments. The joint Government Response published in March 2022[3] confirmed policy details for packaging EPR.

4.2.4 As set out in the government response, robust sampling and compositional analysis from MFs is an important factor in calculating local authorities’ disposal costs. The government response confirmed the intention to implement a reporting regime at MFs, including:

• requiring MFs that bulk waste from two or more suppliers to carry out sampling and reporting;
• implementing the current minimum threshold of 1,000 tonnes of waste per annum;
• implementing a list of material categories for reporting;
• implementing a sampling frequency for input sampling to 60kg per 100 tonnes.

4.2.5 Regulations to bring these reporting requirements in for England and Wales were made in October 2023 and will come into force on 1 October 2024[4]. Scotland made relevant legislation that will come into force on 1 April 2025[5]. MFs sampling and reporting legislation has been in place throughout England, Wales, and Scotland since 2015/16. There is currently no requirement in NI to sample or report on waste entering or leaving a MF site.

4.2.6 New reporting requirements are being brought in through the Code. The drafting of the Code reflects a close examination of the relevant regulations in England and Wales (the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016[6] and the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2023[7]) and the newly updated Scottish Code of Practice.

4.2.7 As these requirements have already been consulted upon, the purpose of this consultation with affected stakeholders is not to seek further views on whether these requirements should be introduced, but to ensure that the Code is clear, understandable, and achieves its aims.

4.3    Relevant legislation

4.3.1 To introduce the new requirements amendments will be made to the Waste Management Licensing (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2003 and the Pollution Prevention and Control (Industrial Emissions) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2013 to refer to the Code once published, and to require the newly in-scope sites to comply with the Code.

4.3.2 The draft legislation is contained in this consultation for review.

4.4    How to answer this consultation

4.4.1 DAERA welcomes answers to this consultation from all affected stakeholders and waste-management companies, and waste-sector trade bodies.

4.4.2 Details regarding this consultation has been circulated to interested stakeholders by email. Please respond to the consultation by completing the digital consultation document.

4.4.3 Throughout this consultation the questions refer to the Code this document can be found attached to this consultation.

4.4.4 If you are reading this digital consultation and have any queries, please email DAERA at eprteam@daera-ni.gov.uk .

4.4.5 Responses must be received by the 12 November 2024 to be considered.

4.4.6 As part of your digital response, your contact details and any personal data you mention as part of your response will be collected. DAERA will treat all personal information collected in line with the departmental privacy statement[8].

4.5    After the consultation

4.5.1 After the consultation closes DAERA will analyse responses and feedback received, and produce a finalised Code and lay legislative amendments.

4.6    About You

4.6.1 Please provide us with the following information about your organisation. This is to help improve our data about the sites in scope of this Code and to establish whether there are any patterns in different organisations’ responses to the consultation.