Site Waste Management Plans - Are you ready?
Issued: 20 March 2008
Waste being taken away for recycling from a construction site, will soon have to produce a site waste management plan. From April 6, anyone responsible for a construction project costing more than £300,000 will be legally required to produce a Site Waste Management Plan (SWMP) before building work begins. The SWMP will be expected to outline just how the developer plans to minimise the waste produced by their scheme, as well as how they aim to comply with waste controls, with failure to produce a SWMP leading to the prosecution or receiving a fixed penalty notice. Tomorrow (March 20) sees the end of a Defra-led informal consultation relating to the legislation, aiming to develop non-statutory guidance to be issued at the same time as the SWMPs become a legal requirement. The draft regulations give responsibility for the enforcement of the SWMP to both the Environment Agency and local councils. The Defra consultation document indicates that it expects enforcement to rest with "local environmental quality, environmental health or trading standards enforcement teams".
Despite some uncertainty among local authorities, the Environment Agency has indicated that it expects councils to take the majority of the burden with regards enforcing the SWMP regulations.
Despite the situation regarding enforcement meaning that self-regulation is likely to play a large part in the SWMPs, there is still enthusiasm that the plans will prove to be a success. In the lead up to the new legislation being brought in, various resources claiming to make the implementation of SWMPs easier for construction firms have been introduced.
WRAP has provided a template on its website to assist companies in developing a plan, which has received 700 downloads since going live in late February, as well as running workshops in association with Envirowise.
undefined undefinedLocally, The Environmental Academy is running training courses on SWMP's
e-mail: stephanie@environmental-academy.co.uk
web site: www.environmental-academy.co.uk