The Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) Industry Group has published a Code of Practice for the RDF market, which aims to help raise standards in the sector.
Written by Eunomia Research and Consulting which is the secretariat to the industry group, the code sets out a framework which aims to “share good practice across the industry”, including among waste management contractors and operators throughout Europe.
In a statement, the industry group claimed that the code “helps to clarify the rules around RDF in each UK country, by bringing together the different regulatory positions of the four environmental regulators”.
Many of the UK exporters and continental recipients of RDF are members of the group although there are also a number of major businesses and brokers who are not members.
The Code was launched in the Houses of Parliament in conjunction with the All-Party Parliamentary Sustainable Resource Group. Baroness Jones of Whitchurch opened the event, which also heard from group member, Robert Corijn of Attero, who spoke about the importance of raising standards in the sector and the group’s role in collaboratively tackling waste crime.
Baroness Jones, who is a former WRAP trustee and Labour’s shadow spokesperson on the environment in the Lords, said: “It is encouraging to see the RDF Industry Group taking the lead in determining and sharing good practice to help raise standards across the supply chain in this evolving and maturing market.”
Consultation
When putting together the code, the industry group consulted Defra, the Environment Agency and the Food Standards Agency.
Speaking at the launch was Robert Corijn, marketing manager at Attero B.V. based in The Netherlands.
Harriet Parke, RDF Industry Group Secretariat and lead author of the code said: “We have consulted widely with the regulators and they have contributed to the development of the document.
“The Code of Practice brings together the regulations that the Agency is already required to enforce and adds guidance on good practice on top of that. This means that it goes beyond the regulatory requirements that are set out by the Agency.”
The Group also consulted the Advisory Committee on Animal Feedingstuffs (ACAF), as there are risks of contamination of RDF storage close to food and animal feed stores at ports.
“ACAF acknowledges the significant effort made by the industry sector in producing this Code of Practice and hopes that it will be adopted throughout the sector to help ensure that feed and food safety is not compromised as a result of RDF presence. We remain interested in co-operating with the sector as the industry develops,” said the organisation.
The RDF CoP aims to help raise standards in the sector.
The industry group explained that the Code will be able to distinguish between compliant and non-compliant RDF operators as members of the group have committed to complying with the code.
Ms Parke said that the code is based on existing regulatory requirements and therefore, “any member operating outside the regulations will be flagged as non-compliant to the code and encouraged to comply”.
The RDF Industry Group
The Group was founded in 2015 by Eunomia and its 26 members include waste management businesses operating in the UK, such as Suez and Veolia, as well as energy producers such as AEB Amsterdam.
Related links
The Refuse Derived Fuel Code of Practice for the UK is available at: here.
The RDF Industry Group will be speaking at the RDF Conference on 23rd November in London. To view the full programme, click HERE
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Source: letsrecycle.com Waste Managment
