DOs Comply with the Sludge (Use in Agriculture) Regulations 1989 (as amended) by: Analysing sludge and soil prior to spreading. Avoiding applying sewage sludge to soils with a pH of less than 5.0. Following all mandatory stock grazing, cropping and harvesting restrictions.
Assess the risk of pollution and land suitability for the application of non-agricultural wastes to land. Prevent direct and indirect entry of the waste into drains, especially with soil injection into fields with gravel backfilled drains. | DON'Ts Store non-agricultural wastes unless such storage is secure and suitable and has been discussed with SEPA in advance. |
Check with the Safe Sludge Matrix (an agreement between the UK water industry and the British Retail Consortium on sludge use), your farm quality assurance schemes and your produce buyer before using non-agricultural wastes. Use of such material may have commercial consequences for acceptability of produce to retailers and processors. Follow the guidance that exists in the Code of Practice for Agricultural Use of Sewage Sludge. Account for non-agricultural waste when implementing a Farm Waste Management Plan and check on how safely the waste can be used in your farm system. Establish and agree what responsibilities and measures the waste provider or contractor will need to take to avoid pollution and odour nuisance. Leave an untreated strip a minimum of 10m wide beside all watercourses and at least 50m from any spring, well or borehole. Avoid the risk of surface run-off. Consider contour injection where there is a risk of injected wastes running out of the injection slots on sloping land. Prepare and implement a nutrient plan for the land treated and reduce inorganic fertiliser use by fully allowing for the available nutrients in the waste. This is mandatory for sewage sludge. Seek professional advice if in doubt about how to manage imported wastes on your farm. Spread non-agricultural wastes only when field and weather conditions are suitable to prevent soil and water pollution. | Employ any waste contractor or company involved in spreading wastes unless they are competent and fully trained. (Competency for those involved spreading wastes will be looked at by The Scottish Executive in taking forward amendments to the Waste Management Licensing Regs.) Permit any non-agricultural wastes to be applied without first knowing the nutrient analysis of the waste and the content of Potentially Toxic Elements (PTEs) and pathogens. Spread liquid sewage sludge and other liquid organic wastes: within 10m of a watercourse or 50m of a drinking water supply; to steeply sloping fields, when the soil is wet or waterlogged, there is a flooding risk or when heavy rainfall is forecast; when the soil has been frozen for 12 hours or longer in the preceding 24 hours or is covered in snow; at a rate that fails to account for the overall suitability of the land. In any case, the rate should never exceed either 50m3/ha for surface spreading; when fields have been pipe or mole drained, or subsoiled over existing drains within the last 12 months.
Apply wastes at rates greater than crop rotation requirements. Apply raw or untreated sewage sludge on land for food production. Allow spreading of non-agricultural wastes on your land outwith daylight hours. Apply imported wastes to any statutory conservation sites (e.g. SSSIs or NNRs) or other areas with a conservation, archaeological or historic value without prior notification to Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). The current EU controls on animal by-products (including blood and gut contents) are under review and revised provisions are expected to be introduced in the early part of 2003. |