County Durham Waste Local Plan.

11 Other Wastes.

Special Waste.

11.1 Special waste is often referred to as hazardous or toxic waste as defined in the Special Waste Regulations (as amended 1996).  A further review of these regulations is currently underway as a means to implement the changes that the European Commission has recently made to its list of Hazardous wastes and incorporated into the European Waste Catalogue.  The revised list includes a number of waste streams not previously considered to be hazardous, including televisions, computer monitors, fluorescent lighting and end of life vehicles.  Whilst all these terms address particular aspects of those wastes, only the term special waste has a legal definition.  For the purposes of this section, the term ‘hazardous’ will be used.

11.2 By virtue of their various harmful properties, hazardous wastes require particular care in their disposal.  They are controlled by their own set of regulations, over and above the control exerted over other waste types, in terms of transport, treatment and disposal.  There are various options available for the management of hazardous wastes, normally involving pre-treatment to reduce the hazard (including incineration), so the residual waste can be safely landfilled.

11.3 Various chemical and biological processes are available for the treatment of special waste.  Bio-remediation relies upon bacteria and other micro-organisms to break down the waste into less hazardous material.  It is however only suitable where hydrocarbons are present in the waste and has been used at Templetown Brickworks, Consett to help ‘clean’ contaminated soils.  Chemical treatment includes neutralisation which can treat acid and alkali wastes and oxidation which involves the addition of an oxidising agent to convert a hazardous waste into an innocuous form.  Solidification immobilises the hazardous waste so that it is resistant to chemical or biological degradation and is suitable for disposal to landfill.  These processes are types of industrial processes and can be located at industrial sites.

11.4 Hazardous waste can sometimes be disposed of straight to landfill, in co-disposal sites, where hazardous wastes are jointly disposed of with other wastes, such as municipal waste. However, in July 2002, the implementation of part of the EU Landfill Directive ended the practice of co-disposal of waste in this country for new landfill facilities and in 2004 for existing landfill sites.  Some existing landfill capacity in the County may be permitted by the Environment Agency to continue to accept hazardous waste beyond 2004.  This will be dependant on the Agency’s consideration of site conditioning plans under the Landfill Regulations 2002.

11.5 Most of the hazardous waste arising in the County is exported to specialised facilities elsewhere in the region and beyond.  Due to the high costs of these facilities and economies of scale to make them viable, it is unlikely that the small volumes of hazardous waste produced in the County could justify the development of a hazardous waste facility here.

Clinical Waste.

11.6 Clinical waste is generated from a variety of healthcare facilities, such as medical and dental practices, and some similar waste found in household waste stream.  At present, County Durham has no licensed facilities for the treatment of clinical waste.  Hospitals in the County currently store and subsequently export their waste to facilities elsewhere.  For example, the waste can be exported to an incinerator in Leeds or to other plants such as Eurocare’s treatment facility in Newcastle.  The neutralised residues are then landfilled.

Sewage and water treatment sludge.

11.7 The volume of sewage (waste water) that will require treatment is directly related to the County’s population and that produced from commercial and industrial premises.  It is conveyed for treatment to a sewage treatment works.  Sewage treatment produces an effluent which is returned to watercourses and a solid material (sewage sludge) which requires disposal.  Sewage sludge is the inevitable by-product of sewage treatment.  Changes in population distribution and economic growth in the County over the Plan period may increase demands on sewage treatment and increase the quantity of sludge to be disposed of.  This will also be directly related to the level of treatment provided, with higher standards generating more sludge by-product. The Waste Local Plan is concerned only with by-product sludge arisings and not the amount of sewage which receives treatment and discharged to water courses under consent from Environment Agency.

11.8 Environmental impacts can result from the discharge of inadequately treated sewage; the actual treatment process; the discharge of treated effluent; and the treatment and disposal of sewage sludge.  The discharge of sewage and effluent into watercourses is not the responsibility of the land use planning system but is regulated and controlled by the Environment Agency.  The land use planning system does however, influence the provision of sewage treatment works and the disposal of sewage sludge, as both require land.

11.9 Responsibility for sewage treatment and disposal in the North East lies with Northumbrian Water Ltd.  Throughout County Durham, there are 150 sewage treatment facilities operated by Northumbrian Water Ltd.  The Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (UWWTD) and the Bathing Waters Directive place obligations on Northumbrian Water Limited in respect of its sewage treatment and discharge standards.  The higher standards and consequential increased production of sludge as a result of these Directives has already occurred and will be maintained.  Further, more modest, increases will occur as further river water quality improvements are made including nutrient removal from certain treated sewage discharges.  The requirement to upgrade the levels of treatment and discharges also applies to the treatment works.

11.10 The UWWTD requires that sludge should be re-used whenever appropriate and that disposal routes should minimise the adverse effects on the environment.  Waste Strategy 2000 states that the main option (around 50%) for re-use has been the controlled application to agricultural land, subject to strict environmental safeguards.  Other options include incineration, landfill, land reclamation, and use on dedicated sites.  A further option is to produce a synthetic light aggregate which would assist in reducing demand for primary aggregate or landfill.  Sludge previously dumped at sea now has to be disposed of by other routes such as spreading on agricultural land and energy recovery.  Waste Strategy 2000 identifies the spreading of sludge on agricultural land as representing the BPEO in most circumstances.

11.11 By their very nature, proposals for new or extended sewage treatment works can cause considerable public concern.  In making provision for new sewage treatment works, there will need to be a balance between meeting higher discharge standards and the environmental benefits of the development, and the protection of the existing environment and amenity.  In providing for new sewage treatment works which are necessary in order to comply with regulatory requirements, it is important that any potential adverse impact of the development, such as odour, access arrangements, landscaping and visual impacts, are taken into account.  Where this type of development is proposed within the Green Belt, regard should be had to Policy W 10.

11.12 The region is supplied with water from a network of water treatment works; six of which are in County Durham: Mosswood, Honey Hill, Tunstall, Great Lumley, Lartington and Wearhead, in addition to bore hole sources in the east of the County.  During the production of potable water from raw water taken from reservoirs and rivers, the natural turbidity and colour is removed by adding coagulants and removing the sediment.  The resultant water treatment sludge is a by-product of this treatment and must either be re-used or disposed of.  At present much of this material is applied to land.  Re-use options would exploit the mineral content of the sludge as a soil improver, soil forming material or as a filler in construction material manufacture.

Agricultural Waste.

11.13 The Environment Agency has estimated that 647,000 tonnes of agricultural waste and by-products was produced in County Durham in 1998.  This estimate was generated using a model based on head of livestock and land area information and so must be treated with a degree of caution.

11.14 The bulk of agricultural waste produced on farms in County Durham consists of animal matter such as manure and slurry, together with silage effluent and crop residues.  The majority of slurry and manure wastes are normally disposed of through application to fields as a soil conditioner or fertiliser and should be more accurately regarded as an agricultural by-product.

11.15 Farms also produce a range of wastes of both an organic and inorganic nature, including for example tyres, plastic bags and sheeting, scrap metal and machinery, and pesticides.  Currently the majority of these wastes fall outside the legal definition of controlled waste but the Government has advised that it intends to consult on amendments to the controlled waste regulations which will extend regulatory controls to agricultural waste.

11.16 During the foot and mouth crisis, County Durham was one of most seriously affected areas in the country.  Apart from the devastating effects on agriculture and the rural economy, the crisis has also had significant but as yet unquantified effects on stock levels and agricultural waste arisings.

11.17 In recent years the issue of animal waste has drawn much public attention because of the BSE crisis and the Over Thirty Month Scheme (OTMS) for culling cattle.  Significant arisings of waste material will require treatment or disposal, or both over the plan period although overall volumes may be expected to decline as more farmers leave the industry.  At present it is uncertain as to whether there is sufficient evidence to justify the provision of a new facility for the disposal of carcasses in the County.  The County Council will liase with DEFRA and monitor changes in Government advice in this regard.  In 1997 The Government issued planning advice on facilities to deal with cattle slaughtered as a precaution under the OTMS.

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