Demolition and construction business owners are being urged to act now to ensure they are disposing of waste wood correctly.

On the 1^st of September 2023, the rules are changing about how waste wood from demolition, construction and domestic sites can be handled.

This is because on this date a rule called Regulatory Position Statement 250 is expiring. RPS 250 states that contractors, who already hold the correct environmental permits, can store hazardous and non-hazardous waste wood together and dispose of it through any waste handler who is licensed to process waste classified under code 17 02 04*.

In other words, waste wood was allowed to be combined in site skips, provided it was to be handled by a correctly authorised waste hander who would treat it all as hazardous wood.  The onus then being on the waste handler to dispose of the wood correctly.

What is changing?

When RPS 250 expires where this responsibility sits is changing in order to bring the disposal of wood from demolition sites in line with the rules that govern the disposal of other forms of hazardous waste wood such as railway sleepers and telegraph poles.

The onus will fall to the business that produces the waste wood to correctly classify the wood as either hazardous or non-hazardous waste and dispose of the hazardous wood with a specially licensed facility.

Alternatively, for businesses who do not have testing facilities to determine if the wood they are disposing of is contaminated or dangerous, they can classify all of their waste wood as hazardous and dispose of it all with a specially licensed facility.

What should business owners do now?

RPS 250 doesn’t expire until the 1^st of September 2023, however business owners and managers are being urged to look at their procedures and waste disposal options now.

Putting new processes in place takes time, and many business owners who fail to either correctly segregate their wood or check that their waste handlers are correctly licensed to handle all classifications of wood, run the risk of being fined once the rules change.

If you operate a construction or demolition company then this change to the rules will apply to you.

For more information and advice, for free, please contact us.