2003/33/EC: Council Decision of 19 December 2002 establishing criteria and procedures for the acceptance of waste at landfills pursuant to Article 16 of and Annex II to Directive 1999/31/EC (c. 33)

ANNEX U.K. CRITERIA AND PROCEDURES FOR THE ACCEPTANCE OF WASTE AT LANDFILLS

Appendix A SAFETY ASSESSMENT FOR ACCEPTANCE OF WASTE IN UNDERGROUND STORAGE

2. ACCEPTANCE CRITERIA FOR UNDERGROUND STORAGE: ALL TYPES U.K.

2.1. Excluded wastes U.K.

In the light of sections 1.2.1 to 1.2.8, wastes that may undergo undesired physical, chemical or biological transformation after they have been deposited must not be disposed of in underground storage. This includes the following:

(a)

wastes listed in Article 5(3) of the Landfill Directive;

(b)

wastes and their containers which might react with water or with the host rock under the storage conditions and lead to:

• a change in the volume,

• generation of auto-flammable or toxic or explosive substances or gases, or

• any other reactions which could endanger the operational safety and/or the integrity of the barrier.

Wastes which might react with each other must be defined and classified in groups of compatibility; the different groups of compatibility must be physically separated in the storage;

(c)

wastes that are biodegradable;

(d)

wastes that have a pungent smell;

(e)

wastes that can generate a gas-air mixture which is toxic or explosive. This particularly refers to wastes that:

• cause toxic gas concentrations due to the partial pressures of their components,

• form concentrations when saturated within a container, which are higher than 10 % of the concentration which corresponds to the lower explosive limit;

(f)

wastes with insufficient stability to correspond to the geomechanical conditions;

(g)

wastes that are auto-flammable or liable to spontaneous combustion under the storage conditions, gaseous products, volatile wastes, wastes coming from collections in the form of unidentified mixtures;

(h)

wastes that contain, or could generate, pathogenic germs of communicable diseases (already provided for by Article 5(3)(c) of the Landfill Directive).

2.2. Lists of waste suitable for underground storage U.K.

Inert wastes, hazardous and non-hazardous wastes, not excluded by sections 2.1 and 2.2 may be suitable for underground storage.

Member States may produce lists of wastes acceptable at underground storage facilities in accordance with the classes given in Article 4 of the Landfill Directive.

2.3. Site-specific risk assessment U.K.

Acceptance of waste at a specific site must be subject to site-specific risk assessment.

The site-specific assessments outlined in section 1.2 for the wastes to be accepted at an underground storage should demonstrate that the level of isolation from the biosphere is acceptable. The criteria have to be fulfilled under storage conditions.

2.4. Acceptance conditions U.K.

Wastes can be deposited only in an underground storage securely separated from mining activities.

Wastes that might react with each other must be defined and classified in groups of compatibility; the different groups of compatibility must be physically separated in the storage.