Riga, February 25, 2021 - Today the Cabinet approved the draft regulations prepared by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, entitled “Procedures for the Application of Financial Security for Waste Management Activities”. It intends to prevent and address cases where a merchant has not performed his or her activities properly and the State should be involved in the collection and management of accumulated and unprocessed waste.
Minister Artur Toms Plešs (AP!): “Financial collateral and additional requirements for waste managers is another important step in improving the waste management system and control to reduce risks to the environment arising from the organisation of ill-considered waste management. . In order to ensure sufficient resources for the management of hazardous waste, the amount of financial collateral shall be increased 2.5 times for those waste managers who manage hazardous waste in accordance with the permit, thereby motivating waste managers to perform their work more responsibly, as well as determining the amount of financial collateral for waste traders and intermediaries."
Currently, waste managers who have been issued a permit for the performance of Category A or B polluting activities in relation to waste, or who have been issued a waste management permit * have to submit a financial security of EUR 100 000 or EUR 50 000 per year to the State Environmental Service (VVD), depending on the type of permit. According to the information provided by the VVD, nearly half of the permits issued by waste managers have not been submitted to the financial guarantee. a. This is particularly the case for the management of end-of-life vehicle authorisations for Category B polluting activities. Accordingly, merchants shall act with waste in an ill-considered manner and, if the merchant has not performed his or her activities properly, the State should be involved in the collection and management of stored and unprocessed waste.
According to the new arrangements, the amount of financial collateral will depend on a number of aspects: the type of activity indicated in the permit, the amount of waste to be managed, the type of waste management operation and the composition of the managed waste – hazardous or non-hazardous. . The amount of financial collateral is determined according to the expected expenditure related to potential environmental pollution caused by waste managers, waste traders and waste management intermediaries, which may arise if the specified activities are not carried out or are carried out only in part I.
The developed rules determine the amount of financial collateral regarding the issuance of a waste management permit and the registration of waste traders and waste management intermediaries - EUR 50 000 per year. The amount of the permit for waste recycling or recovery operations for pollution is also set at EUR 100 000 per year.
At the same time, reductions in the amount of financial collateral are also planned, for example, for waste managers who have been granted a waste management permit only for the transport of waste, the financial guarantee will continue to be EUR 10 000 per year. Similarly, the reduction is planned for end-of-life vehicles and used wood packaging operators, reducing to EUR 25 000 per year if managed to 100 tonnes per year or EUR 50 000 per year, provided that the waste is managed to 200 tonnes per year.
These Regulations prescribe the amount of new financial collateral for waste trading and waste management mediation activities (EUR 50 000 per year). Waste managers who have received both a permit for waste management activities and registered for waste marketing and waste management will have to submit two financial collateral to the VVD.
These Regulations replace the current Cabinet Regulation No. of 8 January 2019. .2 “Procedures for the Application of Financial Collateral in Waste Management Action m. Some of the rules do not change compared to the existing arrangements. "
* for the collection, transport, storage or transhipment of waste, for the purpose of locating closed or recuperated waste dump sites and for regrading waste
Information prepared by:
Public Relations Department
Ministry for Environmental Protection and Regional Development
20200305, 67026533
e-mail: prese@varam.gov.lv
www.varam.gov.lv