The UK government has been told to tighten its controls over non-mineral quarry and mine waste by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), which has found UK regulations in breach of EU waste Directives 75/442/EEC and 91/156/EEC. In particular, the court said that Britain should not exclude these materials from the 1975 legislation's category of "controlled waste". In this way, the UK had failed to fulfill its legal obligations, and should pay the case costs, said the court. The UK is to close this loophole in policy in the forthcoming Waste Management (England & Wales) Regulations 2005 legislation, which is currently under consultation with farmers, quarry operators and other affected parties. The closing date for responses to DEFRA is 18 March, 2005.
