The Environment Agency has launched an online tool designed to help businesses in England check whether their waste meets End of Waste criteria.
The ‘IsItWaste’ tool aims to remove high quality waste-derived products from the scope of waste legislation to improve end market demand and confidence, and allow businesses to be ‘more competitive. It provides a step-by-step approach that takes users through decision stages including material composition, risk assessment, and product use.
The tool ultimately provides the user with information about whether surplus waste material can be considered as a new product. It can also be used to submit an application to the Environment Agency’s Definition of Waste panel for a formal decision if desired.
Resource minister Dan Rogerson said: “This government is committed to ensuring we use our resources more carefully and the UK is now producing less waste than ever before. This reflects a lot of hard work by local authorities and businesses, and a desire from householders to cut down on waste.
“We all have a responsibility to tackle waste and I congratulate the Environment Agency and their partners on the new ‘Is It Waste’ service which can help businesses save money and create new products from existing materials to generate growth and new jobs.”
The project comes as part of the EU LIFE+ funded Ensuring Quality of waste-derived products (EQual) programme, which aims to support and promote the reuse and recycling of waste.
