Waste management: code of practice on sampling and reporting at materials facilities - June 2024

4. Output sampling and reporting requirements

This section applies to any authorised MF operator receiving 1,000 tonnes or more of dry recyclable waste in any reporting year and sorting dry recyclable waste into output material.

4.1. General

27. An authorised MF operator with output sampling requirements must take samples of the output material leaving that facility in a reporting period and measure the composition of those samples. (NB please see section 5 for a definition of output material.) The following data must be provided for each sample:

a) The total original weight in kilograms of the sample selected for analysis.

b) The weight in kilograms of (i) target material, (ii) non-target material, and (iii) non-recyclable material that is contained in the sample.

c) The weight in kilograms of (i) target material and (ii) non-target material contained in the sample that is packaging.

d) The weight in kilograms of (i) target material and (ii) non-target material contained in the sample that is drink containers (including any label applied to them and their lid or other closures).

28. The data provided under paragraph 27(b) to (d) must be broken down further for: (i) target material, by (at a minimum) the material grades in the second column of Table 4; (ii) non-target material, by (at a minimum) the material types in the first column of Table 4, except that glass does not need to be identified separately as packaging.

29. Sampling must be carried out in accordance with subsection 4.2.

30. An authorised MF operator with output sampling requirements must measure the total weight in tonnes of target, non-target and non-recyclable material that leaves the facility in each reporting period.

4.2. Requirements for sampling

31. For each material, one sample must be carried out in accordance with the minimum sampling weights and frequencies detailed in Table 3. Where output material contains multiple materials, sampling weight and frequency must be based on the material which has the lowest minimum frequency tonnage specified in Table 3.

Table 4

Material types & Grades

• Card and paper
  • Cardboard
  • Newspapers and magazines
  • Mixed paper
• Plastics
  • High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) bottles
  • Natural HDPE bottles
  • Coloured HDPE bottles
  • Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET)
  • Clear and light blue PET bottles
  • Coloured PET bottles
  • Polypropylene (PP)
  • Mixed plastic bottles
  • Pots, tubs and trays (PTT)
  • Mixed rigid plastic
  • Mixed plastic
  • Plastic film
• Metals
  • Aluminium
  • Steel
• Glass
  • Mixed coloured glass (container / glass fibre)
  • Mixed coloured glass (aggregate* / glass sand) *while status as recyclate remains
  • Green glass
  • Clear (flint) glass
  • Brown (amber) glass
• Fibre-based Composite
  • Fibre-based cups
  • Fibre-based food containers
  • Fibre-based drinks cartons

32. For all output material, listed in Table 4 or otherwise, the authorised MF operator must define which fractions are target material, non-target material and non-recyclable material based on the purchase specification they have agreed with a buyer. Purchase specifications should be kept on record to support decisions made on the categorisation of the different material fractions.

4.3. Recording and reporting requirements

33. In each reporting period, the authorised MF operator with output sampling requirements must record the information in Table 5 and report it to SEPA.