COPRO wants to play a role in the external control of recycled aggregates in the Walloon Region
This 1 July, a small revolution will take place in the Walloon sector that handles the recycling of inert demolition and construction waste. On this day, the decision of the Walloon government (Walloon government decree) of 28 February 2019 on the end-of-waste status of recycled aggregates comes into effect.
From 1 July 2021, recycled aggregates will be viewed as waste and can no longer be reused in the Walloon Region, unless they comply with the new environmental legislation that takes effect at that time. The provisions of these regulations are set out in the decision of the Walloon government to implement the end-of-waste procedure which is described in Article 4ter of the decree of 27 June 1996 on waste and amending the decree of the Walloon government of 14 June 2001 encouraging the reuse of certain waste (ministerial decree 05.04.2019).
What does this mean in practice?
Following the European end-of-waste directive (the Waste Framework Directive), the Walloon legislator issued a decree establishing the framework according to which reused or recycled waste would no longer be regarded as waste in its territory, but as a product. This decree comes into force 1 July 2021 and defines 2 major procedures:
- A procedure for ‘recognition of end-of-waste status’ (Chapter II), and
- A procedure for ‘registration of the end-of-waste status’ (Chapter III).
More specifically, Annex II of the Walloon government decree on the criteria recognising the end-of-waste status of recycled aggregates describes the registration procedure that must be followed by each producer of this type of aggregate that wants to reuse that product in the Walloon Region.
What are the broad outlines of Annex II of this Walloon Government Decree?
Without going into too much detail, in order for the recycled aggregates to change their waste status and assume that of a product, they must meet the conditions set out in Annex II of the Walloon government decree. The annex states that the conformity of the product ‘recycled aggregates’ must be demonstrated technically and ecologically.
Technical conformity?
Although the harmonised European standards for granulates determine 2 levels for possible CE certification of this product (level 4 and 2+), the Walloon Region defines recycled aggregates as level 2+ from 1 July. This means that in-house inspections of the technical characteristics, as defined by the harmonised standards for aggregates, must be verified each year by an impartial, independent, neutral external body such as COPRO.
In fact, it is an inescapable precondition before ecological conformity may be examined.
Ecological conformity?
In addition to technical conformity, the producer must demonstrate that its products are ecologically compliant. It must put in place a system of in-house environmental checks in accordance with the regulations of Annex II of the Walloon government decree. These in-house inspections of the ecological characteristics must be performed according to the following broad outlines:
- The producer keeps records of the end-of-waste status criteria of recycled aggregates produced from inert waste (Section 4);
- Approved users acquire environmental samples;
- These samples are analysed by accredited laboratories;
- The test results are assessed by competent and trained personnel.
Here too, the in-house inspections of the ecological characteristics, as defined by Annex II of the Walloon government decree, must be verified each year by an impartial, independent, neutral external body such as COPRO.
What must you as producer do now?
Given the short deadline and to guarantee the normal processing time for the files of producers who do not yet have CE 2+ certification and wish to continue to reuse their products in the Walloon Region after 1 July 2021, we can only recommend that they submit their formal application for CE 2+ certification to COPRO as soon as possible via this link.
How can COPRO help you?
At COPRO we have more than 30 years of experience in the area of recycled aggregates and are able to help Walloon producers meet this new challenge as smoothly as possible. In order to optimally apply this new scheme, we are actively contributing to the working groups of the competent Walloon government agency that brings together all those involved.
We like to position ourselves as the reference in the external control of recycled aggregates in the Walloon Region. You can count on us for high-quality service. Contact us for more information and request our rates via ssd.wallonie@copro.eu.
More information:
28 February 2019 – Walloon government decree to implement the end-of-waste procedure which is described in Article 28ter of the decree of 2019 June 1996 on waste and amending the decree of the Walloon government of 14 June 2001 encouraging the reuse of certain waste (ministerial decree 05.04.2019): http ://environnement.wallonie.be/legis/dechets/degen040.htm.
