The Environment Agency requires all excavated waste to be classified before disposal / treatment. Utilities have been able to do this in two ways previously: unplanned works followed RPS 211 and Planned works followed WM3.
A solution was required to better deal with waste generated from unplanned works and the Environment Agency was open to Street Works UK proposing a solution that would work for its members.
A risk assessment based approach was trialled by Street Works UK members and approved by the Environment Agency for use to classify excavated waste for qualifying work. The following document sets out what the newly approved Street Works UK material classification protocol is and provides guidance and examples:
In response to a number of questions from members about the protocol, Street Works UK has published the following FAQ document to assist with the collating of information:
SWUK Material Classification Protocol FAQ April 2025
Please see below further links to the documents outlined in the final page of the above-linked protocol:
If you have further questions on any of the above, please reach out to the Street Works UK Secretariat at info@streetworks.org.uk
The following documents set out what the newly approved Street Works UK material classification protocol is and provides guidance and examples: