Charges Introduced For ‘Soil Dating’

The not for profit organisation behind the drive to reduce the volume of soils going to landfill, has introduced a new charging structure starting this month.

But, according to HBPW Geoenvironmental Engineer, Jay Fox, the benefits of using ‘the CoP’ (Definition of Waste: Development Industry Code of Practice or DoWCoP) still far outweigh any new charges now in force.

The ‘DoWCoP’, which was originally established by the CL:AIRE organisation (Contaminated Land: Applications in Real Environments), provides a process which enables the re-use of excavated soil materials rather than classifying them as waste.

Scenarios include;
re-using excavated materials (contaminated or clean) on the site of origin
direct transfer to another site (uncontaminated natural materials only)
sharing materials between sites via a ‘Cluster’ system or by using a fixed soils treatment facility.

Jay said: “As a Qualified Person – someone registered with CL:AIRE to make Declarations to the Environment Agency for sites in accordance with the Development Code of Practice (DoWCoP) – I am able to seamlessly manage these changes for clients.

“Realistically they are modest charges which only become payable on projects where the volume of materials re-used exceeds 5,000m³. Thereafter they are on a sliding scale starting at £60 for up to 6000m3 and increasing by £10 for every additional 1000m3 of materials. So, for a large site such as 100,000m3, it will cost exactly £1,000”

Fees, due within 28 days, are collected by CL:AIRE who invoice the person or organisation whose details are included in the Declaration form. However, if payment is not paid within the strict credit deadline, future Declarations will not be acknowledged until due monies have been paid.

“The CL:AIRE organisation operates on a not-for-profit basis so these charges are about covering costs rather than making money. The fees are relatively small and, whilst they can rise to a significant sum for larger sites, almost without exception, the financial and environmental benefits of using the DoWCop far outweigh the cost,” added Jay.

For further details get in touch with Jay if you want to know more. His email is j.fox@hbpwconsulting.co.uk