UK Government Publishes Response to Consultation on Amendments to POPs Regulation

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has published the UK Government's official response to the consultation on potential amendments to the Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs) Regulation. The consultation was held from 2 March to 27 April 2023 and received extensive feedback from stakeholders across a range of sectors.

Description of Consultation

The proposed changes and calls for evidence in the consultation were as follows:  

• Amend and/or add POPs waste concentration limits for several POPs.

• Remove specific exemptions for several POPs.

• Add unintentional trace contaminant (UTC) exemption levels for at least two POPs.

• Amend and/or remove UTC exemptions for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA).

• Add a new toxic equivalency factor (TEF) for a POP (dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)).

• Amend maximum concentration limits (derogations for permanent waste storage) for several POPs.

Consultation Outcome

The newly published response provides a comprehensive overview of the outcome of the consultation, including a detailed summary of all responses received. It underlines the UK Government's commitment to take forward several of the proposed amendments to the POPs Regulation, reflecting its commitment to protecting the environment and public health.

DEFRA’s analysis showed that the majority of respondents supported the proposed amendments outlined in the consultation, with some providing supplementary evidence to assess potential impacts. However, there was some opposition to some of the proposals, which prompted careful consideration of the feedback. Although calls for further evidence resulted in some additional information, areas of evidence gaps and uncertainty were highlighted. Details of the responses and the government’s response can be found here.

Next Steps

Having considered all the responses and taking into account the global context and developments in international conventions, DEFRA intends to proceed with a number of proposed changes to the POPs Regulation as soon as parliamentary time allows. These changes include:

• New waste concentration limits for PFOA, PFHxS, PCP and Dicofol, and revised limits for PBDEs.

• New maximum concentration limits for PFOA, PFHxS, PCP and Dicofol and revised limits for PBDEs, and additional European Waste Catalogue (EWC) codes in Annex V.

• New UTC limits or amendments to existing limits for PFOA, PCP and HCB.

• Finalisation of expiry dates for existing specific exemptions for PFOA.

DEFRA will continue to consider further potential amendments to the POPs Regulation in the future, taking into account new evidence and relevant international decisions and guidance, e.g. from the Stockholm and Basel Conventions.