National Resources Wales has now accepted SEPA guidance on the production of fully recovered asphalt road planings.

The Quarry Products Association and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) developed a guidance document to promote the sustainable reuse of asphalt road planings. The methodology demonstrates when aggregate produced from source segregated asphalt road planings has been fully recovered, meaning it has ceased to be waste. After a request made by the Enabling Zero Waste Team at Constructing Excellence in Wales, Natural Resources Wales (NRW) has now accepted this guidance.

This will ease the reuse of source segregated asphalt road planings material across Wales and boost the available secondary aggregates in Wales.

Source segregated asphalt road material meeting the guidance requirements may be used in several different civil engineering applications, such as: capping, sub base, basic running surfaces and use as a feedstock in the manufacture of new road surfacing materials.

Producers and users of such materials who comply with the NRW accepted SEPA guidance will likely be considered by NRW to have produced a product rather than a waste. The guidance applies solely to source segregated asphalt road planings covered by European waste Catalogue Code 17 03 02. It does not cover:

• Tar bound aggregates. Tar pitches are derived from coal and are classed as hazardous waste, European Waste Catalogue Code 17 03 03. Where a road has a tar content it is the responsibility of the road owner/operator to identify and quantify this and decide for its treatment/disposal at a suitably licensed facility.
• Asphalt and asphalt road planings contaminated with any other substances including, though not restricted to, plastics, glass, metals, and spilled liquids.
• Asphalt removed/processed by any other method other than by a road planer e.g. via pneumatic or hydraulic breakers.

If the material has been fully recovered, there is certainty of use and thus no longer is waste its subsequent movement and use will not be subject to the requirements of the waste regulatory control. As such, the material would not have to be transported by a registered waste carrier.

https://www.sepa.org.uk/media/154246/road_planings_guidance.pdf