Farm Waste Event: Coming on February 22
Farmers and growers have until May 15 to register for exemptions from Waste Management Licensing. Mick Roberts asked Simone Aplin from the Environment Agency to answer some typical questions
Farm Waste Event
The Farm Waste Event, will provide practical waste management advice for farmers. Environment Agency staff at the event will help visitors to complete the forms to register exemptions, enabling them to return home compliant.
As well as agencies and service providers explaining how to work within the agricultural waste regulations, the show also will provide visitors with a range of solutions – from advice on the use and application of slurry and manure right through to the correct and safe disposal of chemical containers. Alongside the exhibition of equipment and services there is full seminar programme.
What do I need to do by 15th May 2007?
You should either stop the activity, have applied for a waste management licence or registered licence exemptions for your farm. You must also stop using an on-farm drum incinerator to burn cleaned chemical containers and find an alternative disposal method.
What is an exemption?
Under the new regulations farms need a licence to keep, treat, store or dispose of waste. However, you can carry out certain activities provided you have notified the Environment Agency, by registering the exemptions on the correct form.
What do exemptions allow me to do?
They will allow you to continue low risk re-use and recycling activities on the farm without having to apply for a full waste management licence. They will also allow you to continue to burn waste wood, crop residues in the open or in a properly designed heater as well as re-use old building materials, for example, to make farm tracks (not asbestos). They also allow you to store pesticide containers, veterinary products (syringes, empty bottles etc) and similar items, provided it is in a secure place.
How do I register exemptions?
By obtaining and filling out the exemptions form. A printed paper copy of the registration pack is available by telephoning 0845-6033113 or you can register on-line at: https://secure.wholefarm.defra.gov.uk/wps/portal Registration is free.
Not another form! How long will it take to fill in?
For most farms it will be a matter of filling in your name and address and ticking boxes. It should not take more than an hour. But it is important to read the guidance notes and understand what you are doing.
How do I decide what exemptions I require?
The form is laid out in a simple, colour-coded manner, listing a range of activities, starting with the most common exemptions for jobs like burning hedge cuttings or disposal of ditch waste and builds up to more complex requirements such as composting. For most operations it will be obvious what you need (see Typical exemptions box).
Do not tick all the boxes to cover all bases. You must be realistic when completing the form – if you do tick all the boxes you will arouse suspicion and become a likely target for an inspection.
Can I get help to fill out the form?
Yes. Get advice from your local EA office or by phoning: 08456-033113.
Or visit the Farm Waste Event (see box for details) where EA staff will help you fill out the form.
How often do I have to do this?
Once, although some exemptions may need to be renewed annually. Also if the business changes or you need to add another activity simply contact the EA with your details. Again it is free.
What happens if I don’t do this?
You are breaking the law. EA officers will inspect farms that have not registered exemptions.
The Farm Waste Event
Date: 22 February 2007
Address: Cedric Ford Pavilion, The Showground,
Tickets: Normally £10 but you can download fro free from the website
Tel: 08454-900142
Web: http://www.farm-smart.co.uk/farm-waste/tickets.asp
NRoSO: Three points for attendance
BASIS: Six points for attendance
* Tickets cost £10 on the day
Agricultural Waste Regulations recap
* The agricultural waste regulations affect whether or not you can burn, bury, store, use your waste on farm, or send it elsewhere to be dealt with.
* The regulations came into force in May 2006 and since then you have five options for dealing with your waste:
* 1. Store your waste, securely for up to 12 months
2. Take the waste to a recovery or disposal site yourself
3. Give the waste to someone else who is licensed to dispose of it or transport it for disposal. In this case you have a Duty of Care and need to complete a transfer note and keep a copy for your records
4. Register licence exemptions (by May 15th 2007)
5. Obtain a Waste Management Licence (WML) or a Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) Permit
Typical exemptions:
* Waste paper for animal bedding
* Tyres on a silage clamp
* Chipping logs and branches and shredding plant material
* Spreading ditch clearings
* Use of compactor and baler to reduce bulk of, for example, silage sheeting, plastic bags, plastic containers etc
* Burning plant matter such as logs, fallen trees, untreated fence posts and panels, hedge trimmings, leaves and bark
* Disposal of plant tissue wastes, such as diseased or spoiled crops on land where they are produced eg rotten potatoes.
Note: This is not a comprehensive list.
More details:
Scottish Environment Protection Agency
http://www.sepa.org.uk/pdf/publications/leaflets/agric/agric_and_waste.pdf
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/444304/1224648/660279/241420/?lang=_e
DEFRA
http://www.defra.gov.uk/ENVIRONMENT/WASTE/topics/agwaste.htm
Waste – you can handle it booklet
Waste management regulations explained
http://publications.environment-agency.gov.uk/pdf/GEHO1205BJPF-e-e.pdf
or by phoning 0845-603-3113
On-line exemption registration
https://secure.wholefarm.defra.gov.uk/wps/portal.
http://www.environmentsensitivefarming.co.uk/
Case study:
By managing waste more effectively Severn Trent Farms is not only complying with the new regulations but has also cut disposal costs.
With its headquarters at Stoke Bardolph, Nottingham, Severn Trent Water’s farming operation covers more than 1800ha (4500 acres) over seven sites and includes arable cropping as well as a 360-cow dairy herd.
“You can appreciate that farming on this scale generates a large amount of waste,” explains farms manager John Jackson. “Before implementing changes to meet the new agricultural waste regulations we were spending about £4800 on skips to simply take away our rubbish. Our new set-up, with more emphasis on cutting waste, recycling and re-using whatever we can, has saved £1320 in the first year, even after paying for the new bins.” In the following years the savings will rise to £2300.
Mr Jackson will be explaining the practical steps the farms have taken in a seminar at the Farm Waste Event (see box). He will also be using his spare time at the event to investigate the most economic way to dispose of his empty pesticide containers.
“I am currently struggling to find a suitable solution and hope to be able learn from experts at the event. I am aware of the May 15 deadline and the clock is ticking, but I need to find not only the cheapest option, but one that also closes the loop with the plastic going for recycling, rather than simply landfill,” he adds.
Pesticide containers are currently being stored on-farm and being managed in a plan the farm set up after consultation with all the farm staff and driven forward by Helen Boyle, assistant farm manager. She was also responsible for registering the exemptions for the farms, which she completed last autumn.
“This was actually quite a simple process,” she explains. “I used the printed pack because the on-line forms were not available at the time. I listed all our separate holdings on the same form.
“Provided you do not have any unusual diversifications or are handling some obscure waste, then the process is relatively straightforward. I had no difficulties and it didn’t take a huge amount of time,” she adds.
Severn Trent Farms’ strategy involved the purchase of recycling bins, which are placed on two main farm sites. These separate items for recycling into three groups,
plastic silage sheeting and plastic feed bags, baler twine and paper and cardboard
“We also built a home-made compressor, which is basically a tyre filled with concrete. We lift this into the bins with the JCB and leave it in overnight to compact the waste so we get more in,” adds Mr Jackson.
The purchase of reusable covers for all the silage pits has cut the amount of silage sheeting used each year by a half. These also require fewer tyres to weigh them down, with about 3000 old tyres now gone away for recycling.
By specifying granules and larger packs wherever possible, the farm aims to reduce the amount of pesticide packaging. Feed for the dairy is also bought in bulk to cut the number of bags.
Not everything can be re-used or recycled. But, says Ms Boyle, the amount of waste has been cut significantly. “Previously we were hiring two 12cu yd skips a month at an annual cost of £4800. Now we just fill three smaller 1100-litre bins, which cost just £836/year. Even with purchasing the recycling bins and paying for the collection we are still making considerable savings, compared with chucking it all in the skips.”