As of the 1st September 2023 the Environment Agency has confirmed that RPS 250 will be withdrawn, this mean that a small number of items from Pre 2007 buildings will automatically be classified as hazardous and will not be able to be sent to wood recyclers. Instead, they will require specialist waste disposal unless they are sent for testing to confirm they are not hazardous.
These 10 items all from pre 2007 buildings are:
- Barge boards
- External fascia
- Soffit boards
- External joinery
- External doors
- Roof timber
- Tiling cladding
- Tiling battens
- Timber frames
- Timber joists
Failure to test and prove such items are non-hazardous will mean that as the wood producer you could face additional charges for specialist disposal or potential prosecution from the Environment Agency. To keep costs to a minimum please advise us at quoting stage if any of the above items need to be disposed of.
The Wood Recyclers Association have been carrying out extensive testing and research on behalf of its members, to limit the impact of this change. In doing so, the WRA has reduced the number of items subject to this change from hundreds to just the ten referenced above, testing will continue with the aim to reduce this list further.
WasteOnline will inform you of any further changes and continue to support throughout.