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LEGISLATION |
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Changes to waste laws affecting all businesses See CLM: ¶623, ¶5680 |
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Most waste in the UK is sent to landfill. From 30 October, all waste destined for landfill has to be recycled or treated in some way. This includes waste from all businesses, even office waste. Liquid wastes are now banned from being sent to landfill. The new requirements stem from the EU Directive on landfill (EC Directive 1999/31). The aim is to reduce pollution of the environment, especially of water resources and land, by restricting the type and quantity of material that can be sent to landfill. All businesses have had a duty of care for waste that they produce since 1990. This means that they can only consign their waste to an authorised waste carrier and that they have to make sure that the waste is being disposed of legally. The new development is part of this regime. All waste must now be treated. The “treatment” has to meet a three-part test in order to comply with the statutory requirements: » It must be a physical, thermal, chemical or biological process, including sorting. » It must change the characteristics of the waste. » It must do so in order to: - reduce its volume; - reduce its hazardous nature; - facilitate its handling; or - enhance its recovery. Sorting waste and sending suitable waste for recycling, e.g. cardboard or paper, would comply. However, merely compacting unsorted waste would not meet the test. The advice for small businesses from the Environment Agency is: » try to collect non-hazardous waste as individual waste streams, one or more of which can then be sent for recycling, as this counts as “treatment”; or » ask a waste management contractor to take your waste and sort out part of it for recycling. The Environment Agency will enforce the new law by inspecting the records held by the operators of landfill sites, and by inspection visits to landfills. All waste arriving at a landfill must be accompanied by a consignment note, indicating its source. So, if there are any problems, the waste can be traced back to the original producer. In a separate development, the Environment Agency has announced that it intends to liaise with the Assets Recovery Agency to seize the assets of waste offenders who make substantial profits from their illegal activities. |
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SI 2002/1559 |
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Company and business names regulations amended See CLM: ¶254 |
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SI 2007/1947 (see Issue 5) was replaced by SI 2007/3152 on 6 November 2007 because the first set of regulations came into force before they were laid before parliament, contrary to the correct procedure. These regulations restrict the use of certain words in companies' names. Now, in addition to the word “Government” (which was covered by the original regulations) the abbreviations “HPSS”, “HSC” and “NHS” also require consent if they are to be included in a company's name. There is an exception for persons who already carry on business under a name including the word “Government” or one of these abbreviations. A person to whom such a business is transferred may also continue to use the word/abbreviation for 12 months after the transfer. |
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SI 2007/3152 |