Updating the UK Plan for Shipments of Waste

Overview

The UK Plan for Shipments of Waste implements the UK government policy of self-sufficiency in waste disposal, by prohibiting imports and exports of waste to and from the UK for disposal. This policy is subject to some limited exceptions which are outlined in the UK Plan. The UK Plan was last updated in 2012. The UK Plan is now due another update, to reflect the UK’s departure from the EU in 2019, in addition to certain policy and minor technical changes.

We are proposing four main updates to the Plan:

• align the UK Plan with the government’s NORM waste strategy by allowing imports of NORM waste of UK origin for disposal, and restricting other shipments of NORM waste for disposal.
• clarify that interim disposal operations should be carried out within the UK where possible.
• remove the existing exception relating to export of contaminated river sediment waste for disposal.
• insert a new exception relating to export of mercury and mercury-contaminated wastes for disposal.

You can view all the proposed changes in the draft updated version of the UK Plan for Shipments of Waste, here:

Draft Updated UK Plan for Shipments of Waste

You can also find more detailed background information on the proposed changes in the online survey. 

We welcome your views and comments on the proposals to update the UK Plan for Shipments of Waste. Please share these with us through the online survey.

What happens next

This consultation has now closed. Thank you for your input. We will be assessing the feedback from all respondents and will update this webpage with the results in due course.