The principal requirements of the UK POPs Regulations
This page provides an overview of some key aspects of the The Persistent Organic Pollutants Regulations 2007 and amendments, commonly referred to as the UK POPs Regulations.
Designation of a Competent Authority
The UK POPs Regulations require each of the UK’s devolved administrations to designate a Competent Authority to be responsible for the administrative tasks and enforcement required by this Regulation.
SEPA is the designated Competent Authority for Scotland. We are tasked with:
ensuring waste containing POPs is disposed of in a way that destroys or irreversibly transforms the POPs content
identifying and managing stockpiles containing POPs
enforcing provisions related to the production, placing on the market, and use of specified substances
The Competent Authorities for the other UK administrations are:
The Environment Agency in England
Natural Resources Wales
The Department of Agriculture and Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland
Waste management
Any waste containing levels of POPs above threshold limits specified within the Stockholm Convention must be managed in such a way as to destroy or irreversibly destroy the POPs content.
Producers and waste holders must comply with the following duties, and any failure to do so would be deemed an offence under the regulations:
Producers and holders of waste shall undertake all reasonable efforts to avoid, where feasible, contamination of other wastes with POPs waste (Reg. 7(1)).
POPs waste shall be disposed of or recovered, without undue delay, in such a way as to ensure that the POP content is destroyed or irreversibly transformed so that the remaining waste and releases do not exhibit the characteristics of POPs (Reg. 7(2)).
Disposal or recovery operations that may lead to recovery, recycling, reclamation or re-use on their own of POPs shall be prohibited (Reg. 7(3)).
The following guidance will assist wasteholders in meeting their duties under the UK POPs Regulations.
Avoid contamination with other waste
All producers and holders of waste are required to undertake all reasonable efforts to avoid, where feasible, contamination of their waste with POPs and wastes contaminated with POPs.
You must ensure that you manage POPs-contaminated waste, and any other associated wastes, such as POPs-contaminated wastes produced because of mis-segregation or contamination etc, in such a way that the POPs are destroyed or irreversibly transformed.
You must destroy the POPs-contaminated waste even if the mixing has diluted the POPs concentration below the relevant limits.
Destruction or irreversible transformation
Waste consisting of, containing or contaminated by POPS must be disposed of or recovered, without undue delay, in such a way as to ensure that the POPs content is destroyed or irreversibly transformed so that the remaining waste and releases do not exhibit the characteristics of POPs.
The following treatment methods, as set out in Annexes I and II to the Waste Framework Directive, are deemed acceptable under the UK POPs regulations:
D9 – Physico-chemical treatment
D10 – Incineration on land
R1 – When used principally as a fuel or other means to generate energy, excluding waste containing PCBs
Pre-treatment of POPs-contaminated waste, prior to treatment, may be allowed; however, the POP or POPs must be isolated from the waste provided and subsequently treated by one of the above methods.
Repackaging and temporary storage operations may also be performed prior to such pre-treatment or prior to destruction or irreversible transformation.
Disposal or recovery operations that may lead to recovery, recycling, reclamation or re-use of POPs are banned.
Derogation from destruction or irreversible transformation
A derogation from the requirement to destroy or irreversibly transform the POPs content of a waste exists under the UK POPs Regulations and if certain conditions are met the POPs-contaminated waste can be disposed of by permanent storage in one of the following:
safe, deep, underground, hard rock formations
salt mines
a landfill site for hazardous waste (provided that the waste is solidified or partly stabilised where technically feasible)
This derogation to the requirement to destroy the POPs content of any waste is applicable if:
it is an exceptional case
the waste stream is listed in Annex V Part 2
the concentration of POPs in the waste is below the limit specified in Annex V
the method of disposal is listed in Annex V Part 2
the provisions of the Landfill Directive have been adhered to, and it has been demonstrated that the selected operation is environmentally preferable
It must be emphasised that the procedure for exemption is for exceptional cases and should not be used on a routine basis.
If you wish to apply for a derogation, email NationalWaste@sepa.org.uk to discuss this.
Duty of care
In addition to the POPs-specific legislation, existing requirements under other legislation are still applicable, including those duties required under Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, which are commonly referred to as the ‘duty of care’.
Under Section 34, anyone who produces, keeps, imports or manages controlled waste must store waste properly so that it does not escape from their control, transfer waste only to an appropriate person, provide an accurate and full description of waste, and take reasonable measures to ensure that their waste does not cause pollution or harm to human health.
Managing POPs-contaminated waste
Under Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, wasteholders have a duty to describe their waste fully, to ensure that it is handled appropriately.
If you are unsure or unable to confirm the presence of POPs in the waste a precautionary approach must be adopted, and you should assume that the waste contains POPs and the relevant associated hazardous chemicals and manage the waste accordingly.
For items where there is no supporting information, such as Material Safety Data Sheets or information held by the manufacturer/vendor, you will need to rely on analytical methods such as X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) scanners or laboratory analysis to assess the POPs content of your waste. XRF should be employed primarily as a screening tool and should not be used in isolation to evidence a specific concentration. You must have the appropriate training for using XRF and use a suitable device. You should email NationalWaste@sepa.org.uk to check if you need to make any changes to your permit and management system. You should be able to show that your process works and is accurate.
When transferring your POPs-contaminated waste you should ensure that the waste transfer note or special waste consignment note highlights the presence of POPs, plus the appropriate 6-digit EWC code and a written description such as ‘lead acid batteries that may contain POPs’ or ‘waste domestic seating containing POPs’. The description should be accompanied with a list of all the POPs and other chemicals present (or likely to be present) in the waste.
Producers and holders of waste are legally required to undertake all reasonable efforts to avoid, where feasible, contamination of non-POPs waste with POPs waste. By doing this, you will minimise the impact of handling, storing and disposing of any POPs waste and the associated costs. Non-compliance with this duty is an offence.
Where mixing occurs, the whole load of ‘mixed waste’ should be considered a POPs-contaminated waste. If the POPs waste cannot be removed, the ‘mixed waste’ should be deemed a POPs waste and sent for destruction even if the mixing has diluted the POPs content to below the concentration limit.
Where separate collection is not feasible, POPs-contaminated wastes can be collected in the same vehicle as other waste items as long as they are:
undamaged
not mixed with other waste
segregated from other waste during transfer and when unloaded
On-board segregation can be fixed or changeable, however any measures implemented during transport should be done so with the aim of ensuring that the above criteria are met and must be appropriate for the waste type and the vehicle.
To prevent escape during transport, vehicles or containers used during the transportation of whole POPs wastes or shredded POPs wastes and/or fines should be:
appropriate for the waste type
suitable for holding the waste
not overloaded
covered, where appropriate
Sites authorised to accept to POPs-contaminated wastes must meet the following storage criteria:
POPs-contaminated wastes should be segregated and kept separate from other wastes.
Sorting and storage must not damage the POPs-contaminated wastes so as to cause release of POPs or contaminate other waste.
Storage should be on an impermeable surface or in such a way to prevent any release to the environment.
Where mixing occurs, the ‘mixed waste’ should be considered a POPs-contaminated waste and sent for destruction.
You may only temporarily store or repackage POPs-contaminated wastes containing POPs if you are doing so prior to either destruction of the POPs or pre-treatment to separate the POPs-containing materials for destruction.
As part of the above, you also may remove a non-POPs waste from mixed POPs-contaminated wastes where contamination has not occurred and the items can be removed safely without causing damage to the POPs-contaminated wastes.
Separating materials containing POPs from other materials is regarded as a treatment operation and the activity should be covered by a suitable waste management authorisation.
There is information on the SEPA website on permits, registrations, notifications and General Binding Rules (GBRs) for activities authorised under the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations.
You must only treat a POPs-contaminated waste for the purposes of separating the POPs-containing components for destruction. All fractions from the treatment of the waste item containing POPs containing must be sent for destruction.
You must classify and describe the separated fractions appropriately.
You must ensure that you manage POPs-contaminated waste, and any other associated wastes, such as POPs-contaminated wastes produced because of mis-segregation or contamination etc., in such a way that the POPs are destroyed or irreversibly transformed.
You must destroy the POPs-contaminated waste even if the mixing has diluted the POPs concentration below the relevant limits.
Before transferring your waste to an operator for treatment or destruction you must ensure that the chosen method of treatment and/or disposal is appropriate for the POPs chemical(s) contained in the waste.
Please note that if the treatment does not destroy the POPs, any waste that results from the treatment, and which contains these POPs, is also POPs waste. You must destroy the POPs in this treated waste even if dilution has lowered the POPs concentration below the relevant limits.
You must not landfill waste POPs, any POPs-contaminated wastes, or wastes arising from their treatment that may contain POPs. This includes:
segregated items of POPs-contaminated waste
mixed waste containing POPs-contaminated waste
shredded or broken up waste arising from the treatment of POPs-contaminated waste (including refuse-derived fuel (RDF) and solid recovered fuel (SRF))
Trommel fines from processes treating POPs-contaminated waste, including the dust from air filtration systems
Landfill operators should ensure that waste acceptance procedures include appropriate checks to identify and exclude waste containing POPs or POPs-contaminated wastes.
Any wastes contaminated with POPs accepted at landfill sites should be quarantined prior to being sent to an appropriate facility for destruction.
Incinerator operators must have contingency plans in place to manage any POPs-contaminated wastes they cannot treat, untreated POPs-contaminated wastes, for example RDF or SRF, cannot be sent to landfill in the event of a planned or unplanned shutdown.
The export from Scotland to outside the UK of wastes containing levels of POPs above threshold limits specified within the Stockholm Convention is always subject to notification controls under the Transfrontier Shipment of Waste Regulations 2007. Further information can be found in Waste export and import on the SEPA website.
You must apply to SEPA to obtain consent to export the waste. You must not move waste containing POPs under ‘green list’ controls.
If a waste contains POPs above threshold limits, this severely restricts both destination countries and waste management options. These wastes can, however, be notified for export to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) for incineration with energy recovery. This may include pre-treatment using bromine separation techniques to separate the contaminated plastics, which must be destroyed, from the uncontaminated plastics that could then be recycled.
With respect to other destinations and waste management options:
export to non-OECD countries is prohibited (a list of OECD countries is available on the OECD website)
export for disposal is prohibited to OECD countries that are not EU/EFTA countries and restricted to EU/EFTA countries
Export for recovery, with the exception of destructive technologies like incineration with energy recovery, is prohibited for waste containing POPs above threshold limits.
Imports of this waste are also subject to notification controls and disposal is normally prohibited.
Controls on stockpiles of POPs chemicals
The UK POPs Regulations impose conditions on the holders of any stockpiles of the substances listed in Annex I or II to the European POPs Regulations.
If the stockpile is greater than 50kg and consists of, or contains, any substance listed in Annex I or II for which use is permitted then the holder is required to notify SEPA by emailing NationalWaste@sepa.org.uk with information as to the nature and size of the stockpile.
This information is to be supplied within 12 months of the entry into force of the Regulation, or of any amendments to Annex II or I, and annually thereafter.
The holder of the stockpile is also required to manage the stockpile in a safe, efficient and environmentally sound manner.
If the stockpile consists of substances for which no use is permitted, then the holder of the stockpile must manage it as waste.
Reduction, minimisation and elimination of POPs
When considering an application for a new authorisation or a significant modification to an existing authorisation, issued under the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations (EASR), SEPA, as Competent Authority, must give priority consideration to alternative processes, techniques or practices that have similar usefulness but which avoid the formation and release of these substances. In such circumstances SEPA should be consulted at the earliest opportunity.
There is information on the SEPA website on permits, registrations, notifications and General Binding Rules (GBRs) for activities authorised under the Environmental Authorisations (Scotland) Regulations (EASR).
Banning the production, placing on the market, and use of specified chemicals
The production, placing on the market and use of any of the POPs listed in Annex 1 to the EU POPs Regulations, whether on their own, in mixtures or in an article, is banned unless exempt.
The restrictions do not apply to substances used in laboratory-scale research, as a reference standard, or occurring as an unintentional trace contamination in substances, preparations or articles.
Preparation of a National Implementation Plan (NIP)
The UK is required to prepare a National Implementation Plan for the implementation of its obligations under the Stockholm convention.
The National Implementation Plan details the UK’s performance in meeting past, present and future commitments under the Stockholm convention. DEFRA, with the assistance of the Devolved Administration and the designated Competent Authorities, prepares and publishes the UK’s National Implementation Plan. The UK’s initial (2007) and latest (2022) NIPs can be downloaded from the Stockholm Convention website.