End of Waste

Waste materials must have been through a recycling or other recovery operation and meet all the conditions of the end of waste test to be classed as non-waste. Once they are classed as non-waste, waste controls do not apply to these materials [3].

Recycling or other recovery takes place when something has been done to the waste to remove any waste properties that exist (such as contamination) and turn it into a useful material that will be used in place of another non-waste material. The operation can range from a check or test to establish there are no waste properties to highly complex processes which remove contaminants or change the material [3].

End of waste is usually achieved at the completion of the recycling or other recovery process when the material can replace the non-waste comparator. This could be at the point that it becomes a feedstock, where the appropriate comparator is a feedstock, or where it is ready for its final use, if the comparator is a final product. For material where no appropriate comparator is available, it’s likely that recovery and therefore end of waste is only achieved when it is ready for its final intended use [3].

Article 6 (1) WFD sets out the end of waste test. It contains four conditions that all recycled or recovered material must meet to achieve end of waste status.

Condition (a) – the substance or object is to be used for specific purposes

To assess if the material will be used for a specific purpose, consider:

• if there is a clear use – if not, there is unlikely to be a specific use
• if there is more than one use – if so, the material is only likely to be considered to have a specific use if those uses can exist alongside each other

If the material has more than one use, consideration will need to be given to make an end of waste assessment for each use.

Condition (b) – a market or demand exists for such a substance or object

To assess if a market or demand exists for the material, use the same criteria as set out under condition (a) of the by-products test [1].

Condition (c) – the substance or object fulfils the technical requirements for the specific purposes and meets the existing legislation and standards applicable to products

To assess if the material meets all the relevant technical requirements, standards and laws, use the same criteria as set out for the first part of condition (d) of the by-products test.

Condition (d) – the use of the substance or object will not lead to overall adverse environmental or human health impacts

To assess if the material has overall adverse impacts on the environment or human health, use the same criteria as set out for the second part of condition (d) of the by-products test.

If it is not clear whether any of the conditions (a) to (d) have been met a precautionary approach should be taken and decide that they have not.

As well as considering conditions (a) to (d) when making end of waste decisions, the criteria in Article 6 (2) of the WFD must also be considered [3]. These criteria must be included in any detailed criteria that operators follow to meet the end of waste test for a particular material, for example quality protocols or resource frameworks, and must be considered when assessing end of waste on a case-by-case basis where appropriate [3]

If it is not clear whether the conditions (a) to (d) have been met, a precautionary approach should be taken by deciding they have not been.

All by-product decisions should be taken in line with any future relevant by-product regulation and take into account any guidance about by-products published by the Environment Agency and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) [1].

Example of a by-product

An example of a potential by-product is wood shavings from furniture production, for use as animal bedding, if all the following apply [1]:

• they are certain to be used
• they are an unavoidable residue from producing wooden furniture
• the wood used to produce the furniture is not waste
• no further treatment is needed to use them as animal bedding
• the wood is free from preservatives and treatments

Deciding whether material meets end of waste status can be done by [3]:

• following a relevant end of waste regulation
• meeting quality protocols and resource frameworks
• doing a self-assessment
• getting an opinion through the Environment Agency’s definition of waste service

You can work out if your material meets by-product status by [3]:

• doing a self-assessment
• getting an opinion through the Environment Agency’s definition of waste service