The UK Government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has published a set of rules on waste shipments to come into force from 1 January 2021, as part of its guidelines on Brexit transition: new rules for 2021. The rules, which build on the existing regulations on importing and exporting waste, cover the shipment of waste between the European Union (EU), Great Britain (GB) and Northern Ireland from the end of the transition period. While there will be no changes to the controls on the export of waste from Northern Ireland, the regulations on shipping waste from EU countries to Great Britain, as well as from Great Britain to Northern Ireland and to the EU, have been updated and will come into effect from 1 January 2021.
Under EU law, EU countries will not be allowed to export waste for disposal or export mixed municipal waste for recovery to Great Britain. Any GB businesses based in the EU that want to ship waste to Great Britain must complete waste notification and export forms from the Customs Office of Exit from the EU. It is also the responsibility of GB businesses to ensure that any waste transported within the EU is carried out by authorised waste carriers.
After the transition period, the UK will be treated in the same way as any other OECD country or any country part of the Basel Convention that intends to export waste to an EU country. Similarly to EU waste exports to Great Britain, exporters must complete waste notification and export forms. However, these must be from either the Customs Office of Entry into the EU or the Customs Office of Exit from the EU, if relevant.
Source: Resource