Regulation on General Principles for Waste Pre-Treatment and Recovery Facilities

The Regulation on General Principles for Waste Pre-Treatment and Recovery Facilities was published in the Official Gazette No. 31623 on 9 October 2021 and entered into force on the date of publication (Article 15). It has since been amended three times, in the Official Gazettes of 27 January 2022 (No. 31732), 1 September 2022 (No. 31940) and 24 November 2022 (No. 32023). The current text includes these amendments.

Which facilities does this regulation cover?

The regulation covers sorting-and-separation facilities, other pre-treatment facilities, scrap metal processing facilities, preparation-for-reuse facilities, and non-hazardous and hazardous waste recovery facilities whose activity and administrative and technical criteria are not regulated by other legislation (Article 2). Waste treatment facilities governed by other legislation are outside its scope, although Article 12 on closure applies to them.

What are the facilities' basic obligations?

Facilities must obtain an environmental licence under the Environmental Permit and Licence Regulation and must not accept waste that is outside the licence or unsuitable for processing. Incoming waste undergoes a consistency check; if waste is rejected because of inconsistency or dispute, it must be reported to the provincial directorate within 24 hours (Article 8).

• Registering with the Ministry's online programmes and making mass-balance notifications simultaneously with the physical operations (Article 8).
• Taking out mandatory financial liability insurance for hazardous substances and hazardous waste (Article 8).
• Training staff or employing staff who hold a Vocational Qualification Certificate (Article 8).
• Holding a workplace opening and operating licence, to be submitted after the temporary operation certificate stage (Articles 5 and 8).
• Not exceeding the annual waste consumption stated in the capacity report with the waste held in the acceptance unit at any time (Article 8).

Waste accepted by a facility must be processed within one year of its acceptance date; in necessary cases the Ministry may approve an extension (Article 8).

What physical and technical requirements apply?

Facilities must have an impermeable floor, separate collection of leachate and of rainwater, a waste acceptance unit, a temporary storage area, a weighbridge and a camera system at entry and exit points; camera records are kept for at least thirty days and the documents in the data recording system for at least five years (Article 9). Facilities accepting metal waste use radiation measuring devices approved by TENMAK. A sorting-and-separation facility must have a total area of at least 1000 m², although facilities that accept a single category of waste and facilities located in areas with controlled entry and exit are exempt (Article 13). Where hazardous and non-hazardous waste are processed together in the same process, the resulting waste is managed as hazardous waste (Article 9).

How is a facility closed?

A facility cannot be closed without a closure plan approved by the provincial directorate. The plan is prepared in the Annex 3 format, the directorate inspects the site, the waste on site is sent to other facilities under the approved plan and the online mass-balance notifications are completed. After the removal of the waste is confirmed, the environmental licence is cancelled (Article 12).

What does it mean for destruction and recycling?

Waste that cannot be recovered may not be accepted by the recovery facilities covered by this regulation and is disposed of by one of the methods in Annex 2/A of the Waste Management Regulation (Article 5). Waste processed at pre-treatment facilities must then be recovered or disposed of at environmentally licensed facilities (Article 9). If a product obtained from recovery cannot be sold or loses its product status, it is managed as waste (Article 13). Companies sending waste to these facilities should confirm that the facility's licence covers the relevant waste code.

What should companies pay attention to in practice?

Those who breach the regulation face the sanctions provided in the Environment Law (Article 14). Under Provisional Article 4, the financial security provision does not apply until the Ministry sets its procedure and amount. Companies sending waste should keep records of the facility's licence, the waste codes and how rejected waste was handled.