GovWire

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.

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.

Sometimes the regulatory bodies responsible for overseeing the rules in each country (known as the competent authorities) may disagree on whether something is waste. In these cases the material will be waste.

Use the guidance on how to check if your material is 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.

Waste shipment controls

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

• The International Waste Shipments (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019
• The International Waste Shipments (Amendment of Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006) Regulations 2020

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.

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

• green list waste controls (also known as Article 18 controls), which are simplified controls for most non-hazardous materials
• notification controls (sometimes known as amber list controls), which require consent from all the competent authorities involved before you can ship

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 also producer responsibility regulations which you may need to keep to 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 a consolidated waste list of the relevant annexes to check how you should describe your waste. The annexes have 2 types of waste codes Basel codes and OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) codes. Basel codes start with a single letter (for example, B3011) and OECD codes start with 2 letters (for example, AC300).

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

If there is no Basel or OECD code 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 on importing and exporting waste plastic.

The type of treatment

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

Generally, imports and exports of waste must be for recovery. Imports or exports for disposal are prohibited in the UK, except for a few exceptions described in the UK plan 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 on importing 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 the waste export controls tool to 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 in OECD countries or EU member states

Green list waste 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 the consolidated waste list).

Notification controls apply to all other wastes.

If you are shipping waste to or from the EU, you must follow the guidelines for customs controls on transboundary shipments of waste.

Recovery in non-OECD countries outside the EU

The Green List Regulations set out the controls that apply to waste listed in Annex III and IIIA according to each non-OECD country.

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 on importing and exporting waste plastic.

Notification controls apply to all other wastes.

You can refer to the lists of:

• EU countries
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