Clause 25 - Activities to which Chapter 1 does not apply
Waste and Emissions Trading Bill [Lords]
10:30 am
Ms Sue Doughty (Guildford, Liberal Democrat)
I beg to move amendment No. 95, in
clause 25, page 16, line 26, after the first 'sludges', insert 'and other nonhazardous materials'.
We have some concerns about definitions. Different parts of the Bill contain overlapping references to the spreading of waste, sludges and other materials. So long as it is properly monitored, spreading is an acceptable way of disposing of biodegradable waste. The Bill is concerned with reducing the amount of biodegradable waste that goes to landfill, so we should ask where else it might go, and one option is to spread it on the land.
We tabled the amendment, which relates to non-hazardous materials, because we were confused. The clause refers to
''sewage sludges . . . sludges resulting from dredging operations . . . or similar matter''.
All sorts of things are spread on the land from time to time, so we want to establish what similar matter means. Is it inert or biodegradable? What sort of hazard does it represent? We cannot use agricultural land as a dumping ground.
Similar questions have arisen in Scotland, where consideration is being given to the matter that is spread on the land, and where there are new rules relating to blood and gut contents, which have to be treated before spreading. There, a spreading operator has to produce evidence of agricultural benefit or ecological improvement before proceeding. How do we avoid material that might be hazardous if not dealt with correctly being included in the category of similar matter, diverted from landfill and spread on agricultural land? What monitoring is there, and how do we define what can be used?