The Waste Separation Requirements (Wales) Regulations 2023

PART 1 Introduction

Title, coming into force and application

1.—(1) The title of these Regulations is the Waste Separation Requirements (Wales) Regulations 2023.

(2) These Regulations come into force on 6 April 2024.

(3) These Regulations apply in relation to Wales.

Interpretation

2.  In these Regulations—

“the 1990 Act” (“Deddf 1990”) means the Environmental Protection Act 1990;

“caravan” (“carafán”) has the meaning given by section 75(5)(b) of the 1990 Act;

“cartons and similar” (“cartonau a’u tebyg”) means fibre-based composite packaging, being packaging material which is made of paperboard or paper fibres, laminated with low density polythene or polypropylene plastic, and which may also have layers of other materials, to form a single unit that cannot be separated by hand;

“controlled waste” (“gwastraff a reolir”) has the meaning given by section 75(4) of the 1990 Act;

“domestic property” (“eiddo domestig”) has the meaning given by section 75(5)(a) of the 1990 Act;

“electrical and electronic equipment” (“offer trydanol ac electronig”) means equipment which is dependent on electric currents or electromagnetic fields in order to work properly and equipment for the generation, transfer and measurement of such currents and fields and designed for use with a voltage rating not exceeding 1,000 volts for alternating current and 1,500 volts for direct current;

“food waste” (“gwastraff bwyd”) has the meaning given by section 34D(5) of the 1990 Act, but does not include—

(a)

animal by-products comprising Category 1 material as listed in Article 8, or Category 2 material as listed in Article 9, of Regulation (EC) No 1069/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down health rules as regards animal by-products and derived products not intended for human consumption(1),

(b)

food waste from premises that produce less than 5 kilogrammes of food waste in seven consecutive days, or

(c)

any waste categorised as hazardous under regulation 6 of the Hazardous Waste (Wales) Regulations 2005(2) or containing residues of, or contaminated by, waste or substances categorised as hazardous under regulation 6 of those Regulations;

“premises” (“mangre”) does not include a domestic property or a caravan;

“presenting waste for collection” (“cyflwyno gwastraff i’w gasglu”) includes an occupier of premises taking controlled waste to a centralised collection point;

“recyclable waste streams” (“ffrydiau gwastraff ailgylchadwy”) means—

(a)

glass;

(b)

cartons and similar, metal and plastic;

(c)

paper and card;

(d)

food waste;

(e)

unsold small waste electrical and electronic equipment;

(f)

unsold textiles,

each comprising of the waste sub-fractions listed in Schedule 1, and “recyclable waste stream” means each of the individual streams listed in paragraphs (a) to (f);

“regulator” (“rheoleiddiwr”) means Natural Resources Wales;

“small waste electrical and electronic equipment” (“offer trydanol ac electronig gwastraff bach”) means electrical and electronic equipment falling within one of the categories of EEE listed in Schedule 3 to the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment Regulations 2013(3), excluding items with any external dimension of more than 50 centimetres;

“unsold” (“nas gwerthwyd”) means an unused consumer product, in a factory, retail premises, wholesaler, warehouse or other premises, that has not been sold to a consumer or has been sold and returned by a consumer.

PART 2 Separation Requirements

Duties in relation to presentation of waste

3.—(1) For the purposes of section 45AA(4) of the 1990 Act, the separation requirements are that each recyclable waste stream must, as a minimum, be presented for collection separately from any other recyclable waste stream and from other types of controlled waste or other substances or articles.

(2) Notwithstanding regulation 3(1), food waste within its original packaging may be presented for collection within the food waste recyclable waste stream provided that it is not reasonably practicable for the occupier to separate the food waste from its original packaging and that waste will be taken to and processed at a facility for—

(a) preparation for re-use, or

(b) recycling.

(3) Paragraph (1) does not apply to—

(a) an occupier of a hospital until 6 April 2026;

(b) controlled waste collected by a local authority as respects any relevant highway in respect of which a local authority has a duty under section 89(1)(a) of the 1990 Act to ensure that the land is, so far as is practicable, kept clear of litter and refuse;

(c) controlled waste collected by a principal litter authority as respects its relevant land in respect of which a principal litter authority has a duty under section 89(1)(c) of the 1990 Act to ensure that the land is, so far as is practicable, kept clear of litter and refuse.

(4) In this regulation—

“hospital” (“ysbyty”) has the meaning given by section 206(1) of the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006(4);

“preparation for re-use” (“paratoi i’w ailddefnyddio”) means checking, cleaning or repairing recovery operations, by which products or components of products that have become waste are prepared so that they can be used again for the same purpose for which they were conceived without any pre-processing;

“principal litter authority” (“prif awdurdod sbwriel”), “relevant highway” (“priffordd berthnasol”) and “relevant land” (“tir perthnasol”) have the meanings given by section 86 of the 1990 Act;

“recycling” (“ailgylchu”) means any recovery operation by which waste materials are reprocessed into products, materials or substances whether for the original or other purposes. It includes the reprocessing of organic material but does not include energy recovery and the reprocessing into materials that are to be used as fuels or for backfilling operations.

Duties in relation to collection of waste

4.  For the purposes of section 45AA(1) and (2)(a) of the 1990 Act, the separation requirements are that each recyclable waste stream that has been presented separately for collection under regulation 3 must, as a minimum, be collected separately from any other recyclable waste stream and from other types of controlled waste or other substances or articles.

Duties in relation to collected waste

5.—(1) For the purposes of section 45AA(2)(b) of the 1990 Act, the separation requirements are that, where controlled waste has been separately collected from premises, a person acting in the course of a business who receives, keeps, treats or transports that waste must not mix that waste with any other recyclable waste stream or with other types of waste or other substances or articles.

(2) In this regulation, “person acting in the course of a business” has the meaning given by section 45AA(3) of the 1990 Act.

PART 3 Civil Sanctions

Civil sanctions

6.  Schedule 2 (civil sanctions) makes provision about the civil sanctions that may be imposed for the purpose of the enforcement of an offence under section 45AA(8) of the 1990 Act.

PART 4 Amendments to the 1990 Act and the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011

Amendments to the 1990 Act: Wales

7.  The 1990 Act is amended as follows.

8.  In section 46 (receptacles for household waste), after subsection (5) insert—

“(5A) A requirement imposed on an occupier by a waste collection authority in Wales by a notice under this section does not apply so far as the requirement duplicates or conflicts with a requirement imposed on the occupier under section 45AA(4).”

9.  In section 47 (receptacles for commercial or industrial waste), after subsection (5) insert—

“(5A) A requirement imposed on an occupier by a waste collection authority in Wales by a notice under this section does not apply so far as the requirement duplicates or conflicts with a requirement imposed on the occupier under section 45AA(4).”

Amendments to the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011: Wales

10.  The Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011(5) are amended as follows.

11.  In regulation 13 (duties in relation to collection of waste), before paragraph (2) insert—

“(1A) In relation to Wales, paragraphs (2) to (4) apply in relation to the collection of waste from a domestic property or a caravan.”

12.  In regulation 14 (duty in relation to collected waste), before paragraph (1) insert—

“(A1) In relation to Wales, paragraphs (1) and (2) apply in relation to separately collected waste from a domestic property or a caravan.”

13.  After regulation 15 (guidance) insert—

“Interpretation: Wales

15A.   For the purposes of regulations 13 and 14, in relation to Wales—

“caravan” has the meaning given by section 75(5)(b) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990;

“domestic property” has the meaning given by section 75(5)(a) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.”

Julie James

Minister for Climate Change, one of the Welsh Ministers

29 November 2023