Environmental guidance for your business in Northern Ireland & Scotland
The Mining Waste Directive (MWD) brings in new requirements for managing extractive waste at mines and quarries, including a requirement for waste management plans (WMP).
This guidance applies to all mines or quarries in the UK that are required to have a WMP.
A WMP is a document that explains how you will minimise, treat, recover and dispose of extractive waste at your mine or quarry.
In most cases, you will need to prepare a WMP and comply with its terms if you have an extractive waste area or extractive waste facility.
You do not need a WMP if an exemption applies to your mine or quarry or your mine or quarry does not produce extractive waste. You will need to submit a waste management statement to confirm this. For example, you can submit a waste management statement for:
If your extractive waste area was in operation on 1 April 2010 you must have produced a waste management plan by 1 May 2012 to continue your operations.
Your WMP must explain how you will manage extractive waste at your site, including:
See our guidance on closing your mine or quarry.
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You may be able to refer to existing plans or documents in your WMP if they meet some or all of the above requirements, such as documents you prepared under the Quarries Regulations 1999.
You must review your WMP:
You must tell your regulator about any changes you make to your WMP.
To find out more about the MWD requirements, see our guidance on managing extractive waste.
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