Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) legislation added to registers

We have added the ‘Generating and handling hazardous waste’ profile code to the entries for legislation covering persistent organic pollutants (POPs):

• Regulation (EU) 2019/1021 on persistent organic pollutants (EU, ROI, NI)
• Assimilated Regulation 2019/1021 on persistent organic pollutants (GB)
• The Persistent Organic Pollutants Regulations 2007 (UK)
• European Union (Persistent Organic Pollutants) Regulations 2020 (ROI)

This legislation primarily covers the production and supply of POPs, however it also includes requirements when disposing of waste items containing POPs. The list of substances classified as POPs has expanded in recent years, meaning this legislation is now relevant to a large proportion of organisations, with POPs commonly found in upholstered furniture and electricals.

If these entries were not previously in your register, you should review them, add comments and assign the appropriate compliance status. There are no changes to registers that already had the profile code ‘Persistent organic pollutants (POPs)’.

Waste containing POPs must be managed and processed in a way that:

• minimises contamination; and
• destroys or irreversibly transforms the waste, so that it no longer has the characteristics of POPs.

Background to POPs

POPs are organic compounds that do not easily break down in the environment, they can accumulate in the environment and harm living organisms.

Health effects associated with POPs include:

• endocrine disruption;
• developmental defects; and
• cancer.

Restrictions on the use of POPs were introduced following the signing of the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants in 2001 and introduced into EU law in 2004. Most countries in the world signed up to the UN treaty with the notable exception of the United States of America.

The Stockholm Convention initially identified 12 POPs, known as the dirty dozen, but this list has continued to expand over the past 20 years.

POPs have been used as:

• pesticides, such as DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane);
• flame retardants, such as dechlorane plus and PFOA (perfluorooctanoic acid); and
• heat transfer fluids, such as PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls).

Common equipment that may contain POPs includes:

• seating and soft furnishings; and
• electrical and electronic devices.