You must follow this guide if you deal with waste that contains a persistent organic pollutant (POP).

POPs are chemical substances that do not break down in the environment. They are a danger to human health and the environment.

Find out if your waste contains POPs

You are responsible under your duty of care to know if your waste material contains POPs.

Find out what types of:

• waste upholstered domestic seating contain POPs
• waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) contain POPs

For other waste types, if you are not sure you can:

• ask the supplier or manufacturer of the material
• test the material yourself to find out the concentration of any POPs in it
• get the material analysed by a laboratory

Sort and store POPs waste safely and securely

You must take all reasonable steps to avoid mixing POPs waste with other waste during storage, collection and treatment.

If you do mix, you must manage the whole load as POPs waste. You must destroy the POPs even if the mixing has diluted the POPs to below the concentration limit.

Describe and classify POPs waste

You must provide an accurate description of your waste as part of your duty of care.

You must include POPs in the description where they are present.

See how to describe and classify:

• waste upholstered domestic seating containing POPs
• WEEE containing POPs

When you must destroy the POPs in waste

If the POPs in the waste are at or above the concentration limits listed in the concentration limits table, the waste is known as POPs waste.

You must destroy (or irreversibly transform) the POPs in POPs waste.

If you recover or dispose of POPs waste, you must follow the guidance on how to manage waste containing persistent organic pollutants. It explains when the outputs from your process are POPs waste and how concentration limits are applied to them.

Concentration limit table

Persistent organic pollutant (POP)(POP)	Concentration threshold
Aldrin	50mg per kg
Alkanes C10 – C13, chloro (short-chain chlorinated parafins)paraffins) (SCCPs)(SCCPs)	10,000mg per kg
Chlordane	50mg per kg
Chlordecone	50mg per kg
DDT (1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bis (4-chlorophenyl) ethane)	50mg per kg
Dieldrin	50mg per kg
Endosulfan	50mg per kg
Endrin	50mg per kg
Heptachlor	50mg per kg
Hexabromobiphenyl	50mg per kg
HexachlorobutadieneHexabromocyclododecane	100mg1,000mg per kg
HexabromocyclododecaneHexachlorobenzene	1,000mg50mg per kg
HexachlorobenzeneHexachlorobutadiene	100mg per kg
Hexachlorocyclohexanes, including lindane	50mg per kg
Mirex	50mg per kg
ToxaphenePentachlorobenzene	50mg per kg
PolychlorinatedPentachlorophenol Biphenylsand its salts and esters	Sum of concentrations: 100mg per kg
Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PCBsPFOS) and PFOS derivatives	50mg per kg
Perfluorooctanoic (ifacid you(PFOA), areits notsalts sureand whetherPFOA-related yourcompounds	In wastefirefighting containsfoam PCBs,mixtures, usethe sum of the calculationconcentrations methodof: - givenPFOA inand Europeanits standardssalts: EN0.025mg 12766-1per kg - PFOA-related compounds: 1mg per kg In other wastes, the sum of the concentrations of: - PFOA and ENits 12766-2,salts: which1mg youper cankg - buyPFOA-related online)
Polychlorinatedcompounds: napthalenes	10mg40mg per kg
DDTPerfluorohexane (1,1,1-trichloro-2,2-bissulfonic (4-chlorophenyl)acid ethane)(PFHxS), its salts, and PFHxS-related compounds	50mgSum of the concentrations of PFHxS and its salts: 1mg per kg Sum of the concentrations of PFHxS-related compounds: 40mg per kg
ChlordeconePolychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs)	50mg per kg (if you are not sure whether your waste contains PCBs, use the calculation method given in European standards EN 12766-1 and EN 12766-2, which you can buy online)
Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs)	15μg (micrograms) per kg, meaning 0.000015g of PCDD or PCDF per kg of waste (you need to use the toxic equivalency factor of each PCDD or PCDF to calculate concentration)
Hexachlorocyclohexanes,Polychlorinated including lindanenapthalenes	50mg10mg per kg
Total of tetra-, penta-, hexa-, hepta- and deca- bromodiphenyl ether	Sum of concentrations: 1,000mg500mg per kg
Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and PFOS derivatives Toxaphene	50mg per kg
Pentachlorobenzene	50mg per kg

YouFor can find the chemical formulae, European Community (EC) numbers and Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) numbers for each of the POPs in this tabletable, inyou can use the list of POPs. to find the:

• chemical formulae
• Chemical Abstract Service (CAS) numbers
• European Community (EC) numbers

Your laboratory analysis may significantly underestimate the concentration of POPs present in some materials if extraction efficiency is poor. For example, polybromodiphenyl ethers (PBDEs) in plastic. You must measure the extraction efficiency and adjust the results accordingly.

Manage POPs in waste

If your waste is POPs waste you must follow the guidance manage waste containing persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The guidance tells you:

• how to get the POPs material removed from the waste
• how to get the POPs content of your waste destroyed
• the rules for recycling waste containing POPs
• the rules for recovering waste containing POPs
• the rules for reusing waste containing POPs
• how to apply to dispose of POPs waste by permanent storage