On 12 October 2018, the UK government published a Technical Notice a on how the continuity of waste shipments between the UK and the EU would be maintained in a no-deal Brexit.

Trans-frontier shipments of waste are controlled through a process of prior written consent under the EU Waste Shipment Regulation 2006 which is a system to control the movement of waste into, within, and from, the EU for energy recovery or recycling (Regulation (EC) No 1013/2006 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 June 2006 on shipments of waste).It prohibits the shipment of waste for disposal, by landfill or incineration, to countries outside the EU and the European Free Trade Area (EFTA) and the export of hazardous waste to countries that are not members of the OECD.

In January 2018, the European Commission issued a Notice stating that if the UK leaves the EU without a deal, import/export licences issued by the UK would no longer be valid for shipments of waste to the remaining EU countries, and licenses issued by the EU would no longer be valid for shipments to the UK, from the day the UK leaves. Therefore, current approvals to ship notified waste between the UK and the EU or to transit the EU that extend beyond the 29 March 2019 would be subject to a re-approval process to ensure continuity. There is currently no process set out in the EU Waste Shipment Regulation 2006 to deal with this scenario of how notified shipments that have already been approved by UK and EU competent authorities should be re-approved.

In the case of waste shipments from the UK to the EU, the UK will remain a party to the Basel Convention and a member of the OECD following Brexit, and in a no-deal scenario, the UK would be treated in the same way as any other OECD country, or any country that is party to the Basel Convention, looking to export waste to an EU country. UK exporters would need to familiarise themselves withthe Customs Guidelinesthat the EU has laid down for imports of waste from outside the EU.

Under the EU Waste Shipment Regulation 2006, OECD countries wishing to export waste to the EU for disposalmust submit a duly reasoned request (DRR) to the relevant EU competent authority, explaining why the country does not have and cannot reasonably acquire the appropriate disposal facilities. The UK government would need to submit DRRs for any exports to the EU of waste for disposal, before a notification to export could be submitted by a UK exporter to the relevant UK competent authority. In most cases, the export of UK waste for disposal is already prohibited so the impact of this additional step is unlikely to be significant.

There would be no changes to the procedure for exports of waste for recovery/recyclingthat are eligible to be shipped under the Green Control procedure as laid down in the OECD Decision and the EU Waste Shipment Regulation 2006.

In the case of waste shipments from the EU to the UK, in a no-deal scenario, the UK would be treated in the same way as any other OECD country looking to import waste from an EU country and would continue to apply the procedures laid down in the Basel Convention and the OECD Decision.

Under the EU Waste Shipment Regulation 2006, EU states would be prohibited from exporting waste for disposal, or exporting mixed municipal waste for recovery, to the UK. There would be no changes to the procedure for imports of waste for recovery/recyclingthat are eligible to be shipped under the Green Control procedure as laid down in the OECD Decision and the EU Waste Shipment Regulation 2006.

In the case of Ireland, the technical notice indicates that the UK government is clear that in a no-deal scenario, it must respect the UK’s unique relationship with Ireland, in sharing a land border and as co-signatories of the Belfast Agreement. The UK government has consistently placed upholding the Belfast Agreement at the heart of its approach and recognises it has provided for the deep economic and social cooperation on the island of Ireland. This includes North-South cooperation between Northern Ireland and Ireland, which the UK government is committed to protecting in line with the letter and spirit of Strand two of the Agreement. The Irish government has indicated that it would need to discuss arrangements in the event of no deal with the European Commission and EU member states.