Reader letter
- - - - - - - -
 
From L. W.
4 October 2010
 
Hi,
 
What are the rules for selling reclaimed roof slates in the UK? I work for a UK construction company and we are going to be removing some slates from an old building that could be reused. Normally, when we get rid of waste, we have to have the licence number of the site taking the waste as part of our Duty of Care.  However, there are also rules which cover second hand goods and seem to be a little less prescriptive.  As you say, a vexed issue without clear direction which leads to unnecessary bureaucracy in an attempt not to fall foul of the law.
 
Regards,
L. W.
Environmental advisor
 
- - - - - - - - - - - - -
 
Reply from the editor
25 October 2010
 
Dear L. W.,
 
If you sell the slates to a salvage dealer, a business, charity or institution neither consumer laws nor waste laws apply.
 
If you sell the reclaimed roof slates to a private individual, consumer laws do apply but waste laws do not apply.
 
If you give the slates away to a private individual, consumer laws do not apply. Waste laws do not apply if that private individual reuses the slates. Waste laws do apply if that private individual does not reuse them and disposes of them as waste.
 
UK waste laws must comply with EU environmental laws, in particular the 2008 EU Waste Framework Directive, which is clear that the reuse of a reclaimed product is outside of the EU waste framework. "Preparing for reuse' is included in the WFD, but only in the positive sense that reuse must be encouraged by government, and must be considered first before recycling, waste to energy and disposal to landfill. Under EU law, your company is under a legal obligation to reclaim the slates, and sell them for reuse, or reuse them itself, as a priority before recycling or landfill are considered.
 
The removal of old slates from a building, and their reuse on the same site, or their sale to a salvage dealer or other reuser, requires no waste management license to handle them or store them, nor a waste transfer note to move them. It would be prudent to keep a record of the receipt for money received by your company for the slates, with the buyer's name and address, just in case. Also, chain of custody can be important to salvage dealers for the resale of reclaimed building materials, and a receipt provides evidence for this. So too might a photographic record.
 
The sale of reclaimed roof slates stands outside Site Waste Management Plans because the slates are not waste. You could however include them on the SWMP for completeness of records but remember to place 'n/a' (not applicable) in the boxes about waste transfer notes and waste management licenses.
 
From the point of view of saving of carbon emissions, it would be necessary to record the final location of the reused slates so that you can provide evidence of a claim by your company for having helped to save carbon emissions (and other environmental impacts). Only part of the emissions saving should be claimed, because the dealer chain and end reuser would also share part of the claim for emissions savings. There is as yet no convention for how to allocate the emissions savings across the supply chain.
 
If, in the future, the reclaimed slates which your company has sold do not get reused but end up being recycled or landfilled, the point at which the decision to reuse them is changed to a decision to recycle or send them to landfill, is the point at which the slates must legally be considered waste, and the person who makes that decision is the legally responsible party, not your company.
 
Your company can advertise the slates prior to removal on SalvoWEB as a 'Demolition and Dismantling Alert', or as a 'For Sale' ad after they have been removed.
 
Yours sincerely,
Thornton Kay
Salvo Llp
 
P.S. From 15 November 2010 Site Waste Management Plans are mandatory for developments over £300,000. See the link below.
 
[Disclaimer: This reply from Salvo is informed opinion only. If in doubt seek legal advice