We are market leaders when it comes to working with resources and waste clients. We have a deep understanding of what the circular economy means for the UK and how we are going to implement the Resources and Waste strategy. We advise clients across the entire spectrum of the waste industry from providing regulatory advice to in this highly regulated and complex sector, facilitating the delivery of new waste infrastructure and working with waste organisations and local authorities across the full range of waste-related agreements.
Private sector clients include Viridor, Veolia, Totus, Broad Environmental Safetykleen and others. Public sector clients include Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority, Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority, Leicestershire City Council, Nottinghamshire Country Council.
Our expert team can provide a wide range of services across all aspects of the waste sector providing clients with a single point of contact for any matters relating to:
- Permitting
- Enforcement
- Waste export
- Planning strategic planning advice, permitted development rights, s106 agreements, DCOs and obtaining planning permission
- Real Estate — title structures, due diligence and drafting and negotiating all property agreements required such as energy centre leases, pipeline leases and easements;
- Project Agreements — drafting and negotiating all project agreements including construction agreements, feedstock agreements, offtake agreements and connection agreements;
- Procurement — we have extensive experience providing end-to-end advice to procuring authorities on the delivery of major projects
- Corporate — shareholders' agreements, joint venture agreements, share acquisitions and disposals, equity funding arrangements, tax advice
- Banking and finance — grant funding, asset finance, project finance, receivables financing, facility agreements, shareholder loans, security documentation
- Disputes and Risk Management — ongoing contract management, dispute resolution, mediation, arbitration, pre-litigation action.
Relevant experience
- We are advising a household name company on an end of waste judicial review claim against the Environment Agency. The circular nature of the client's operations means the material in question should not be considered waste for part of its life cycle. The EA does not agree with this approach/interpretation and the matter is currently before the courts.
- We are advising a well know infrastructure company on the surrender of two permits for closed landfill sites. The process is complicated due to the rigid nature of the surrender process and the historic nature of the landfill sites.
- We have been retained by a top 5 UK waste company to advise on its landfill disposal programme. The transactions are complex as they involve the consideration of complicated environmental liability programmes and the transfer of environmental permits.
- We are the sole advisor to an operator on the development of a 12 MW EfW plant — our role to date has included advising on all aspects of the project form planning and permitting to funding and technology procurement.
- We advised a FTSE100 household name client on its waste duty of care obligations relating to its activities at numerous sites across the UK and also the interaction of those controls with specific food waste controls.
- We advise the leading UK exporter of SRF and RDF in relation to its operations including the associated bonds and contractual requirements.
- We advise local authorities on a range of matters associated with their resources and waste-related activities including waste procurement projects. Our team are also considered true technical waste and resources sector experts and have a detailed knowledge of the regulatory framework and the political dimension for example:
- the impact of Covid-19 on service provision and the operation of HWRCs,
- the waste and resources strategy and its interaction with the new Environment Bill,
- the ongoing war on plastic waste and the introduction of extended producer responsibility,
- the Circular Economy agenda and the likelihood that the EU framework will apply to the UK in the event of a transition agreement resulting from Brexit,
- the impact of Brexit on the waste export market,
- the problems now being experienced in the global recyclate markets and the financial pressures this is now exerting on contracts for waste treatment; and
- the approach of contractors to the very strict enforcement of contract terms where the margins on treatment contracts are now minimal.
In addition, we recently advised a county council on the mechanism and process for the withdrawal of recycling credits under the EPA 1990 and we advised another country council on the defence of nuisance claims relating to alleged liability arising from closed landfill sites operated by the council from the 1960s-1990s.
We are members of CIWM and write a regular column for them. A member of the team is also a Fellow of IEMA.
We regularly provide training on a host of waste-related topics, including the much-misunderstood waste duty of care.
