POPs Information

To All Customers

16/01/2023

Wastes containing Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs)

Following guidance issued by the Environment Agency, we have updated our waste acceptance procedures to ensure waste- particularly upholstered domestic seating- containing POPs, is correctly segregated and handled.

POPs are Persistent Organic Pollutants, arising from hazardous chemicals which were commonly used in the past manufacture of soft furnishings, and do not break down in the environment. UK companies stopped using POPs chemicals between 2002-2011, however furnishing imported up to 2019 may contain them.

To prevent these hazardous pollutants reaching the food chain, they can no longer be disposed of at landfill and must be incinerated. This also means trommel fines, that are used as a remediating top cover material, must also be free of POPs. Therefore we are taking steps to ensure POPs containing wastes are not passed through our mechanical processes, where they could potentially breakdown and contaminate the other recyclable waste streams, and are sent to an energy from waste facility as a segregated load.

Therefore we must request that you do not place POPs containing items in the mixed waste stream, but keep these segregated. Any incidences in which your load contains a POPs item, and it is believed this may have contaminated the rest of the load, the entire load will be consigned to incineration, at a rate of £250.00 + VAT/tonne (minimum 1 tonne).

In the event we do not believe it will have contaminated the rest of the load, we will charge an additional charge on top of your overall tonnage rate:
· 3 seat sofa £100.00 + VAT/each
· 2 seat sofa £75.00 + VAT/each
· Armchair £50.00 + VAT/each
· Other items (footstools, poofs, bean bags etc) £50.00 + VAT/each

You can tip this waste as a segregated load with us at our MRF, at a tonnage rate of £250.00 + VAT/tonne (minimum 1 tonne) under the following details:
· Description- ‘Domestic Seating Waste Containing POPs’
· EWC Code- 20 03 07

For customers with larger quantities of wastes, we are happy to do bulk collections and dedicated containers, and are happy to discuss pricing to reflect this.

Yours sincerely,

Dominic Moule

Managing Director, Westminster Waste Limited