As of the 1st of September 2023, the Regulatory Position Statement 250 (RPS 250) has officially been withdrawn in England by the Environment Agency. Following the RPS 250 withdrawal, if you work with or handle demolition waste wood, you must ensure that you are up-to-date with these changes and are handling any potentially hazardous waste wood correctly.

RPS 250 WITHDRAWAL – WHAT IS CHANGING?

The withdrawal of RPS 250 means that certain kinds of potentially hazardous waste wood from pre-2007 buildings, which could previously be sent for recycling or recovery under the RPS, will no longer be accepted at wood recycling sites.

To ensure you handle your waste wood correctly, you will need to sort and categorise your materials into ‘Hazardous Treated’ and ‘Non-hazardous Treated’. To help, we’ve put together a handy list of the ten items you need to look out for in your waste wood that could be potentially hazardous, so you can handle them accordingly.

WHAT WOOD ITEMS SHOULD I LOOK FOR?

From the 1st of September, the following ten wood items from pre-2007 buildings will automatically be classified as hazardous and cannot be sent to wood recyclers:

• Barge Boards
• External Fascia
• Soffit Boards
• External Joinery
• External Doors
• Roof Timber
• Tiling Cladding
• Tiling Battens
• Timber Frames
• Timber Joists

These items will require specialist hazardous waste disposal unless an external test provider can certify that they are not hazardous. There is more information on IDENTIFYING, TESTING, ASSIGNING and COSIGNING your waste wood via the WRA Toolkit.

HOW CAN ALFRED H KNIGHT HELP?

If you’re looking for an expert to help you accurately assess your waste wood for classification purposes, Alfred H Knight can help.

As an industry leader in the sampling and analysis of a range of waste materials, AHK is well-placed to help you determine the composition of your waste wood. Our waste wood classification services build a reliable profile of your materials to help you make informed decisions on how to handle them correctly.

If you would like to speak to an expert to see how we can help you with your waste wood, head to our contact page today.