Rules dropped for contract sheep dippers to require full permit for on-site waste dip
The National Sheep Association welcomed the changes as ‘a major step forward’.
Lauren Dean
Mobile sheep dippers have been granted exemption from the need to be fully permitted and charged to store spent dip on site.
The move, announced by the Environment Agency (EA) following backlash over its new licensing and permitting charges introduced in the Spring, removed the expense of having to license a premises for storage and instead introduced the option to temporarily store waste dip at a place controlled by the producer of the waste, pending collection or disposal.
It will mean contract dippers will be able to bring spent dip back to their operating sites.
Phil Stocker, chief executive of the National Sheep Association, welcomed the changes as ‘a major step forward’.
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He said: “This issue is one we have been fighting for a while and it has taken until now to get a meeting [with Defra and the EA] in place.
“We took the opportunity to ensure that our Defra colleagues and EA understand what makes our industry tick – there is no use rules and regulations being put in place without this understanding and in my view, we made some real progress here.
Highly welcomed
“With mobile dip gaining much favour and modern equipment offering good operator safety, good sheep welfare, effective treatment and now fully compliant means of disposal, this outcome is highly welcomed.”
Conditions include that:
- the sheep dip has been diluted in accordance with manufacturers instructions at the place of use and is below hazardous waste thresholds;
- the total quantity of waste dip stored at any one time does not exceed 20 cubic metres (20,000 litres);
- the waste dip is stored in a bunded area with an impermeable base able to retain 110 per cent of the largest container or 25 per cent of the total volume that could be stored, whichever is the greater;
- and that no waste dip is stored for longer than three months.
The EA has also agreed to do a ‘light touch review’ of the controls around sheep dip disposal later in the year.
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