Hazardous waste meaning

Does a seller need to disclose land contamination to a buyer? If the seller knows the land is contaminated, there is no obligation to reveal this to a purchaser; the principle of ‘buyer beware’ applies. However, when responding to CPSE enquiries, the seller must avoid any misleading statements. 16.4 Please provide (so far as the Seller is aware) details of: (a) historic and current uses of the Property and activities undertaken there; and (b) whether any hazardous substances, or contaminative or potentially contaminative materials, are in, on or beneath the Property, including asbestos or asbestos-containing materials, any known waste deposits, present or former storage areas for hazardous or radioactive substances, existing or previous storage tanks (above or below ground), and any parts of the Property that are or were landfill. A seller will typically seek the benefit of the ‘sold with information’ statutory exclusion and authorise the buyer to carry out its own site investigations. A typical response would be: ‘the buyer may undertake its own investigations...

In this issue: Air emissions and climate change Contamination and pollution Energy efficiency and buildings Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental information Environmental taxes, reliefs and incentives ESG and sustainability Hazardous substances and chemicals Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Waste Water, flooding and drainage Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Air emissions and climate change Greenhouse Gas Removals (GGR)-UK government publishes Business Model documentation On 27 August 2025, the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) released a suite of papers on its proposed Greenhouse Gas Removals (GGR) Business Model and accompanying policy. The Lexis+ Energy team, working with Navraj Singh Ghaleigh, Senior Lecturer in Climate Law at the University of Edinburgh Law School, set out the context for the GGR Business Model; its relationship with the Power BECCS Business Model; the technologies the GGR framework intends to encompass; its legal footing and principal features; and how...

In this issue: Air emissions and climate change Energy efficiency of products Energy for environmental lawyers ESG and sustainability Hazardous substances and chemicals Marine Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Waste Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Air emissions and climate change Defra opens consultation on industrial emissions permitting reforms The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has begun consulting on plans to modernise England’s environmental permitting regime for industrial emissions. The package aims to foster innovation, adopt agile standards, secure proportionate and coherent regulation, boost regulator effectiveness and efficiency, and deliver a transparent system. Suggested measures include a new registration route for low-risk installations, flexible site permits setting overall emissions caps, and faster approvals for time‑limited technology trials. The proposals reflect the Corry Review’s critique of regulatory inefficiency. The Environment Agency intends to roll out changes that could cut permit queues from months to days and lower...

In this issue: Air emissions and climate change Energy for environmental lawyers Environmental disputes and proceedings Environmental permits and consents Environmental taxes, reliefs and incentives ESG and sustainability Hazardous substances and chemicals Marine Nature, biodiversity and habitat conservation Waste Waste producer responsibility regimes Water, flooding and drainage Daily and weekly news alerts New and updated content Air emissions and climate change DESNZ releases quarterly waste data reporting template for the UK ETS. The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has issued a template for quarterly waste data submissions under the UK Emissions Trading Scheme (UK ETS). It is designed for waste operators to use when sending quarterly data reports to their regulator during the voluntary monitoring, reporting and verification (MRV) period. See: LNB News 19/02/2026 50. AFME responds to European Commission consultation on climate resilience legislative framework. The Association for Financial Markets in Europe (AFME) has provided...

Nanotechnology—opportunities and risks Nanotechnology deals with the fabrication and application of matter at ultra-small scales. Nanomaterials are quantified in nanometres (nm) and can be many thousands of times thinner than a human hair; a single hair measures around 80,000 to 100,000 nm across. At these dimensions, substances display properties that diverge from those of the same material in bulk form, enabling novel uses while potentially introducing distinct hazards. Current adopters span key fields and wider industries: Biomedicine, electronics and energy Cosmetics, defence, automotive and agriculture Applications range from high-volume commodities, for example carbon black in car tyres, through to specialised, low-volume technologies. Cosmetics commonly incorporate nano titanium dioxide and zinc oxide to deliver functions such as UV filtering, while gold and silver nanoparticles feature in medical diagnostic tools. A 2023 report put the global nanotechnology market at US$69.15bn in 2022, projecting expansion to US$248.56bn by 2030. The European Commission regards micro/nano—electronics and photonics as a Key Enabling Technology that should be...

Waste from extractive operations (‘mining waste’) Mining waste encompasses materials that must be removed to gain access to mineral resources (but are not actually processed), for example topsoil, overburden and waste rock, as well as tailings—the material left over after the process of extracting the valuable content from an ore. Some fractions are inert and unlikely to present a significant environmental threat; others, in particular those from the non‑ferrous metal mining industry, may contain hazardous substances, such as heavy metals. For more information see Practice Note: Waste types and controls—extractive waste/mining waste The regulation of mining waste in England and Wales is primarily through the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 (EPR 2016), SI 2016/1154 (as variously amended), which is the main regulatory legislation governing the environmental permitting and compliance regime applying to a range of activities and industries. EPR 2016 came into force on 1 January 2017 and consolidated all of the amendments to the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010 (EPR 2010), SI 2010/675. EPR...

Across the UK, hazardous wastes are governed by distinct regimes for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In England and Wales, the Hazardous Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2005, SI 2005/894 (the ‘Hazardous Waste Regulations’) prescribe the regime. The Environment Act 2021 (EA 2021) created powers to make further regulations to strengthen the hazardous waste regime in England and Wales. The 2005 Regulations were made to give effect to the Hazardous Waste Directive 91/689/EEC and contain provisions on tracking and movement controls. Subject to reg 9, a waste is “hazardous waste” if it is: listed as a hazardous waste in the List of Wastes a specific batch of waste determined (under regulation 8) to be hazardous waste The “List of Wastes” in this context means the list established by Commission Decision 2000/532/EC, which replaced Decision 94/3/EC establishing a list of wastes pursuant to Article 1(a) of Council Directive 75/442/EEC on waste, and Council Decision 94/904/EC establishing a list of hazardous waste pursuant...

Environment Health and Safety Please provide the following: Copies of every environmental report concerning the Property or the Company’s business, including desktop reports and reviews, Phase 1 compliance audits, intrusive Phase 2 investigations, geotechnical reports and studies, validation reports, environmental management audits, flood risk assessments, regulatory compliance audits or assessments, together with any documents evidencing that the recommended actions set out within the disclosed reports have been fully and satisfactorily completed. Copies of all environmental permits (being licences, consents, authorisations, approvals, registrations, notifications and exemptions) required by applicable environmental or health & safety (EHS) law for the Property or the Company’s operations; include complete copies of any compliance assessment reports, details of any pending applications for new permits or variations to existing permits, and all correspondence sent to or received from the relevant competent authority or regulator relating to the permit(s). Details of activities currently undertaken (including particulars of any hazardous substances used or stored) and any (a) known contamination, (b) pollution incidents, or...

Environment Health & Safety Please provide the following: Complete sets of environmental reports for the Property or the Business—covering desktop reviews, Phase 1 compliance audits, intrusive Phase 2 investigations, geotechnical studies, validation reports, environmental management audits, flood risk assessments, and regulatory compliance audits or assessments—together with documentation proving that the actions recommended in the disclosed reports have been satisfactorily carried out. Copies of all environmental permits needed under environmental or health & safety (EHS) law for the Property or the Business (including licences, consents, authorisations, approvals, registrations, notifications and exemptions), plus any compliance assessment reports, information on any outstanding applications for new permits or variations to existing permits, and all correspondence sent to or received from the relevant competent authority or regulator regarding the permit(s). Details of activities undertaken at the Property by the Business and by previous users of the Property (including particulars of any hazardous substances stored or used at the Property) and any known contamination, pollution events, or remediation works at...