Mining Waste Directive

The European Parliament and the Council of the EU adopted Directive 2006/21/EC on the management of waste from the extractive industries, the Mining Waste Directive (MWD), on 15th March 2006.

It was prompted by accidents in Spain and Romania where cyanide rich liquid suspensions were released from mines after breaches to retaining dams. These accidents caused significant environmental damage to the river ecosystem and its animal life also threatened human health.

DoE proposes to implement the requirements of the MWD via planning legislation. Regulations will set out specific requirements on operators for the management of waste material arising from the on-shore prospecting, extraction, treatment and storage of mineral resources and the working of quarries for the purposes of preventing harm to the environment and human health.

Current good practice in the industry already addresses many of the MWDs requirements and in conjunction with existing regulatory requirements, will limit the effect of any new obligations placed upon operators. The most common requirement for an operator will be the preparation of a waste management plan which will need to be formally approved by the Department via the planning system

It is anticipated that the majority of sites will only deal with inert waste. Consequently it is considered unlikely that Northern Ireland will have any sites involving a Category A waste facility, the potentially most hazardous category of waste facility.

Under the MWD member states were required to transpose the directive by 1 May 2008 to ensure that no extractive industry waste facility operated without a permit by 1 May 2012. While legislation is not yet in place in the UK jurisdictions the Department intends to have proper and appropriate” regard to its general requirements when determining new mineral applications.

The Quarry Products Association (NI) is working with the Department and the extractive industry in NI to aid the delivery of full compliance with the MWD by May 2012. www.qpani.org/

The full text of the Mining Waste Directive can be accessed at-Mining Waste Directive