Amendments to the persistent organic pollutants (POPs) regulation
Requesting comments on proposed changes to the persistent organic pollutants (POPs) regulation, including changes to waste limits and specific exemptions.
We are seeking your views on a number of proposed changes to the annexes of the retained regulation (EU) 2019/1021 (as amended by the Persistent Organic Pollutants (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020/1358 and the Persistent Organic Pollutants (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2022/1293) (hereafter ‘the POPs Regulation’).
Some of these changes relate to additions or amendments to the Stockholm Convention which the UK, as party to the convention, must implement. Other amendments are being proposed following reviews of elements of the POPs regulation carried out in 2022, or in response to scientific or technical progress.
The consultation also includes calls for information on other aspects of the POPs Regulation, where the evidence gathered will help inform future potential policy decisions and legislative amendments.
The proposed changes and calls for evidence we are consulting on relate to:
- amending and/or addition of POPs waste concentration limits for several POPs
- removal of specific exemptions for several POPs
- addition of unintentional trace contaminant (UTC) exemption levels for at least two POPs
- amending and/or removal of UTC exemptions for the POP perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA)
- addition of a new toxic equivalency factor (TEF) for a POP (dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs))
- amending maximum concentration limits (derogations for permanent waste storage) for several POPs