Is sewage sludge 'waste' and are waste treatment plants subject to regulation under the PPC Regime?

摘要

It appears that the court is applying an expansive, rather than restrictive, interpretation of the PPC regime - and this should be welcomed given that it is still unclear whether, and to what extent, treatment activities (be it water or other) fall under the regulations. Given that the High Court has declared that four of the claimant's water treatment plants do fall under the regulations, and the claimant will now have to check whether its remaining 595 plants also require PPC permits, the water industry and other industrial sectors would be well advis'ed to check that they are compliant with the PPC regime. Given that this case involved difficult questions of interpretation, it would not be at all surprising if either party decided to appeal to the Court of Appeal.