2.4 Environmental Legislation, Pollution & Site Waste
Key Takeaways
The Environmental Protection Act 1990 places a duty of care on anyone who produces or handles waste: use registered waste carriers and keep waste transfer notes for at least 2 years.
Hazardous waste such as fluorescent tubes, many batteries, PCB capacitors and asbestos must be segregated and moved with a consignment note, kept for 3 years, under the Hazardous Waste Regulations 2005.
The WEEE Regulations 2013 keep old luminaires, appliances and electronic equipment out of general waste so that they can be recycled.
Work activities can cause land contamination, air pollution and pollution of watercourses, and landfill is the last resort in the waste hierarchy.
Environmental hazards such as spills must be reported straight away so they can be contained, legal duties met and harm to people and wildlife prevented.
2.4 Environmental Legislation, Pollution & Site Waste
Unit 201 is not only about personal safety. Learning outcome 1 asks you to identify roles and responsibilities under environmental legislation, and learning outcome 2 asks how work activities affect the environment, how waste must be processed on site, and why environmental hazards must be reported. Together these two outcomes supply 10 of the 25 questions in the Unit 201 test specification, so environmental law deserves real study time.
Who Has Environmental Responsibilities?
The Unit 201 range names four groups. Each has its own part to play:
| Role | Typical environmental responsibilities |
|---|---|
| Employers | Provide waste and pollution procedures, segregated skips and spill kits; use registered waste carriers; keep waste transfer and consignment notes; train staff. |
| Employees | Follow site waste and pollution rules, segregate waste, use spill kits, never burn or bury waste, and report spills or hazards straight away. |
| Organisations (main contractors, waste companies) | Plan site waste management, hold the permits or registrations they need, and make sure waste leaves site lawfully. |
| Clients | Provide information such as asbestos surveys, appoint competent contractors and agree how waste will be handled. |
The Key Environmental Laws
| Legislation | What it covers | What it means for an electrician |
|---|---|---|
| Environmental Protection Act 1990 | Part II places a duty of care (section 34) on anyone who produces, carries, keeps, treats or disposes of controlled waste; Part III deals with statutory nuisances such as noise, smoke and dust. | Store waste securely, pass it only to an authorised (registered) waste carrier, and describe it on a waste transfer note, kept for at least 2 years. |
| Hazardous Waste Regulations 2005 (England and Wales; Scotland has its own special waste rules) | Controls waste with hazardous properties from production to final disposal. | Mercury-containing lamps, many batteries, PCB capacitors, solvent and adhesive residues and asbestos must be segregated and moved with a consignment note, kept for 3 years. |
| Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999 | The framework for permitting industrial activities that could pollute air, water or land (now delivered through environmental permitting). | Sites with permitted processes have strict rules on emissions, spills and drainage that contractors must follow. |
| Control of Pollution Act 1974 | Includes local authority controls on noise from construction sites (sections 60 and 61) and other pollution controls. | Noisy work such as breaking out or chasing may be limited to agreed hours or need prior consent. |
| Control of Noise at Work Regulations 2005 | Protect workers' hearing: lower exposure action value 80 dB(A), upper exposure action value 85 dB(A), exposure limit value 87 dB(A). | Hearing protection zones, quieter tools and limits on exposure time when drilling and chasing. |
| Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations 2013 | Make producers responsible for collecting and recycling electrical and electronic equipment. | Old luminaires, fittings, appliances and IT equipment must be kept out of general waste and sent for WEEE recycling or take-back. |
| Control of Asbestos Regulations 2012 | Managing and working with asbestos; asbestos waste is hazardous waste. | Never break up or bag suspect asbestos yourself; stop work and report it (see Section 2.2). |
| Environment Act 1995 | Set up the Environment Agency (and SEPA in Scotland) to regulate pollution and waste. | The environmental regulator (the Environment Agency in England, Natural Resources Wales or SEPA) can prosecute for pollution and illegal waste disposal. |
Note
The Unit 203 range also lists the "Environmental Act" among the statutory regulations; in practice this means the environmental laws above. Breaking them is a criminal offence that can lead to unlimited fines and, for the most serious waste and pollution offences, imprisonment.
How Electrical Work Affects the Environment
The Unit 201 range names three effects you must recognise:
- Land contamination: oil or diesel leaking from generators and plant, spilled solvents, battery acid, buried rubble or cable offcuts, and contaminated dust can poison soil.
- Air pollution: burning waste (never burn cable offcuts to recover the copper: it releases toxic fumes and is illegal), dust from cutting and chasing, exhaust fumes from site plant, and the release of refrigerant gases from air conditioning or heat pump equipment.
- Pollution of watercourses: washing tools or pouring chemicals into surface water drains (which often discharge straight into streams and rivers), cement washings and silt, and leaking fuel all damage rivers and wildlife.
Noise, vibration and light from site work can also be a statutory nuisance to neighbours.
Processing Waste on Site
The waste hierarchy
Good practice follows the waste hierarchy, from the most preferred option to the least:
- Prevent or reduce: order the right quantities, measure cable runs accurately and return unused materials.
- Reuse: reuse suitable offcuts of conduit and trunking, and return cable drums and reels.
- Recycle: send copper and steel scrap, cardboard and plastics to separate, labelled skips; scrap copper also has a resale value.
- Recover: some waste can be used to recover energy.
- Dispose: landfill is the last resort, for waste that cannot be dealt with any other way.
Segregating electrical waste
| Waste | Classification | How to handle it |
|---|---|---|
| Cable offcuts, scrap copper and steel | Recyclable metals | Separate metal skip or bin; never burn the insulation off |
| Cardboard, plastic packaging, cable drums | Recyclable | Flatten and segregate; return drums to the supplier |
| Fluorescent tubes, compact fluorescent lamps and other mercury lamps | Hazardous waste and WEEE | Keep unbroken in a lamp coffin; collected by a licensed carrier with a consignment note |
| Old luminaires, fittings, appliances and electronic controls | WEEE | Separate WEEE container or manufacturer take-back scheme |
| Batteries (lead-acid, lithium) | Usually hazardous | Tape or cap the terminals, store upright in a bunded or fire-safe container, and recycle through a specialist |
| Capacitors in old discharge-lamp fittings that may contain PCBs | Hazardous | Do not puncture; bag and segregate for specialist disposal |
| Solvent cement, adhesive and paint tins with residue | Hazardous | Keep lids on and segregate for hazardous waste collection |
| General rubble and mixed non-hazardous waste | Non-hazardous | General skip, removed by a registered waste carrier with a transfer note |
Reporting Environmental Hazards
Learning outcome 2 also asks why it is important to report hazards to the environment that arise from work procedures:
- To stop the damage spreading: a small fuel leak or chemical spill can be contained quickly with a spill kit, absorbent booms and drain covers if it is reported straight away.
- To meet legal duties: pollution and illegal waste disposal are criminal offences, and serious incidents must be reported to the environmental regulator.
- To protect people and wildlife: contaminated land and water can harm health, drinking water supplies and wildlife.
- To limit cost and damage to reputation: clean-up costs, fines and bad publicity can be severe for the company and the client.
Report first to your supervisor or site manager. They decide whether the company's environmental manager and the environmental regulator must be told, and they record the incident.
Tip
In the test, watch for the difference between a waste transfer note (non-hazardous controlled waste, kept for 2 years) and a consignment note (hazardous waste, kept for 3 years).
Under the duty of care in the Environmental Protection Act 1990, how long must a waste transfer note for non-hazardous waste normally be kept?
6 months
1 year
2 years
10 years
Which item of electrical waste must never go into a general waste skip because it is hazardous waste containing mercury?
Fluorescent tubes
Flattened cardboard packaging
PVC trunking offcuts
Empty wooden cable drums
In the waste hierarchy, which option is the least preferred?
Reduce
Reuse offcuts and cable drums
Recycle
Dispose of it to landfill
Why should an electrician never rinse out a tin of PVC solvent cement into a surface water drain?
Solvent cement sets quickly in water, so rinsing it out would block the drain and flood the site welfare facilities
Surface water drains often discharge straight into streams and rivers, so the chemical pollutes watercourses
Drain covers near buildings are often bonded to earth, so the solvent could cause a shock
It voids the cement manufacturer's warranty
Sections you finish are checked off in the contents.