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1. What a waste shipment is

Waste exports and imports are called waste shipments. A waste shipment means the transport of waste between England and another country (except Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) whether by road, rail, air or sea. Waste shipments must follow rules called waste shipment controls.

2. Check if your material is classed as waste

Waste shipment controls only apply if the material you want to transport is waste. You need to find out if the material you want to transport is classed as waste by any of the countries involved. If it is waste, controls apply across the whole journey.

Use the guidance on how tocheck if your material is waste. Sometimes the regulatory bodies responsible for overseeing the rules in each country (known as the competent authorities) disagree on whether something is waste.In cases of disagreement the material will always be waste.

You have a legal duty of care if you produce, carry, import, keep or dispose of waste. You must make sure your waste is handled safely and only passed to those authorised to receive it. It is your responsibility to classify your waste correctly and ship it under the correct controls.

3. Waste shipment controls

Waste controls are set out in the retainedWaste Shipments Regulation EC No 1013/2006 as amended by:

• The International Waste Shipments (Amendment) (EUExit) Regulations 2019
• The International Waste Shipments (Amendment of Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006) Regulations 2020
• The International Waste Shipments (Amendment of Regulation (EC) No.1013/2006 and 1418/2007)Regulations 2021

This guidance refers to these as the relevant regulations. They apply from the point the waste is loaded until the waste is processed at the destination facility.

Rules for importing and exporting waste apply in:

• the country where the shipment starts
• the country where the shipment ends
• any country the waste passes through on its intended journey (known as transit countries)

You need to check the rules for all the countries your waste will pass through on its intended journey. Some waste shipments are prohibited (not allowed).

If your waste shipment is not prohibited, it must comply with either:

• notification controls under the retained Waste Shipments Regulation (also known as amber list controls), which require consent from all the competent authorities involved before you can ship
• article 18 of the retained Waste Shipments Regulation (also known as green list controls), which are simplified controls for most non-hazardous waste

4. How to find out which controls apply

The controls that apply to waste shipments depend on the:

• waste type
• treatment type planned for the waste at its destination
• country of destination and the transport route

There are alsoproducer responsibility regulationswhich you may need to follow if you export wastes such as:

• packaging
• batteries
• end of life vehicles (ELV)
• waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE)

The type of waste

Describe waste using the description codes in the relevant regulations. You can use aconsolidated waste listof the relevant annexes to check how you should describe your waste. The annexes have 2 types of waste codes Basel Convention codes andOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) codes. Basel Convention codes start with a single letter (for example, B3011) andOECDcodes start with 2 letters (for example, AC300).

If your waste type appears in theconsolidated waste list, the waste code and annex title number will help you to find out which shipment controls apply.

If there is no Basel orOECDcode for your waste, you must describe it as not listed and notification controls will apply.

The controls that apply to non-hazardous waste plastic changed on 1 January 2021. Check the rules onimporting and exporting waste plastic.

The type of treatment

Waste treatment refers to either disposal or recovery. The terms disposal and recovery are defined in theEUWaste Framework Directive.

Generally, imports and exports of waste must be for recovery. Imports or exports for disposal are prohibited in theUK, except for a few exceptions described in theUKplan for waste shipments. In these exceptions notification controls always apply.

For some plastics, the waste controls depend on the type of recovery planned. Find out more in our guidance onimporting and exporting waste plastic.

The intended journey and destination

You must follow the rules that apply in each country the waste will stop at or move through on its journey, including:

• its origin
• its final destination
• any transit countries

You can use thewaste export controls toolto work out which controls apply to your shipment. The tool is only a guide, so you should always check the controls with the competent authorities, government departments or customs inspectorates in the destination and transit countries before shipping.

You can also use the following general principles for your intended destination to work out which controls apply.

Recovery inOECDcountries orEUmember states

Article 18 (green list)controls generally apply to waste listed under a single entry in Annex III, IIIB or the mixtures of wastes listed in Annex IIIA (these annexes can be found in theconsolidated waste list).

Notification controls apply to all other wastes.

If you are shipping waste to or from theEU, you must follow theguidelines for customs controls on transboundary shipments of waste.

Recovery in non-OECDcountries outside theEU

The Green list regulations 1418/2007 as amended, set out the controls that apply to waste listed in Annex III and IIIA according to each non-OECDcountry.

The controls that apply to non-hazardous waste plastic changed on 1 January 2021. This may affect the controls which apply to your shipment. You may need to check the rules onimporting and exporting waste plastic.

Some of the wastes listed inAnnex Vare prohibited from export, includinghazardous wasteand household waste.

Notification controls apply to all other wastes.

You can refer to the lists of:

• EUcountries
• 

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