These Regulations consolidate the waste management licensing and exemption system currently contained in the Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994 as amended. They also make certain changes to that system (including the introduction of new exemptions from the requirement for licensing and the adjustment of various existing exemptions). Furthermore, they remove the need for licence holders to have a certificate of technical competence and require businesses carrying their own waste to register as waste carriers. Lastly, the Regulations contain provision for the purpose of implementing Directive 2008/29/EC on waste.
The Directive establishes the legislative framework for the handling of waste in the Community. It defines key concepts such as waste, recovery and disposal and puts in place the essential requirements for the management of waste, notably an obligation for an establishment or undertaking carrying out waste management operations to have a permit or to be registered and an obligation for the Member States to draw up waste management plans.
Furthermore, it establishes major principles such as an obligation to handle waste in a way that does not have a negative impact on the environment or human health, an encouragement to apply the waste hierarchy and, in accordance with the polluter-pays principle, a requirement that the costs of disposing of waste must be borne by the holder of waste, by previous holders or by the producers of the product from which the waste came.
