Pollution Prevention and Control Act 1999
This Act implemented the 1996 EU Directive on Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control 96/61/EC (which was initially updated and superseded by the Industrial Emissions Directive 2010/75/EC) and latterly by Directive 2024/1785/EC 'IED 2.0').
The Pollution Prevention and Control Act (PPCA 99) and its subsequent regulations (the Pollution Prevention and Control (PPC) Regulations 2000) formed the basis for the new IPPC regime in the UK. These regulations have now been repealed and replaced by the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016, as amended. The latest update to the Act was in 2019 to designate new EU directives into the UK regulatory framework prior to Brexit.
Overview
Under both of these regulations, industrial sites that fell under the PPC regime were known as installations with the operator of the installation required to hold a permit to operate the facilities. The permit specified the application of Best Available Techniques (BAT) to either eliminate pollution or reduce pollution to harmless levels.
The PPC regulations apply to all installations carrying out ‘activities’, which are listed in Schedule 1 to the Regulations. Waste management is one of the listed activity sectors.
The listed activities are divided into three categories depending on their size, industry and probability to cause pollution incidents if not adequately controlled:
- A1 installations – includes waste activities and regulated by the EA.
- LA-IPPC / A2 installations – less polluting industries and regulated by the Local Authority.
- Part B – only concerned with emissions to air such as crematoria and dry cleaners etc. regulated by the Local Authority [1] [2]
