Waste Protocols Project

The Environment Agency and WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) set up the Waste Protocols Project to deal with uncertainty over the point at which 'waste' is fully recovered and ceases to be waste. Currently, red tape governing the management of such substances as anaerobic digestate, paper sludge ash and gypsum means that materials are often unnecessarily landfilled, instead of being used as resources.

For each material it is dealing with, the Waste Protocols Project aims to either: produce a Quality Protocol to define the point at which waste may become a non-waste product or material that can be either reused by business or industry or supplied into other markets; or produce a regulatory position statement informing the business community what regulations it must comply with to use processed waste material.

Martin Brocklehurst, the Environment Agency's Head of Environment Protection External Programmes, recently gave insight into the programme and indicated that three quality protocols would be out for public consultation soon. At a meeting in Westminster, he said: "We are now approaching the next stage of consultations in the next 2-3 weeks for anaerobic digestate, paper sludge ash and gypsum ... There's quite a lot still to happen and it will take place in the early part of this year."