Secondary containment: producing industry-led guidance

ADBA’s Training, Safety and Environmental Management group coordinated a meeting between industry representatives and the Environment Agency this week to discuss secondary containment. We have picked up increasing concerns about onerous requirements in some cases, while the Agency continues to express their concern about containment failure incidents and the need for high standards of design, construction and operation.

The group chair, Terry Brownhill, led the meeting, and suggested a ‘risk register’ style framework based on CIRIA guidance, with guidance and criteria to help ensure it could apply to and work for different types and scales of AD plant. A small subgroup will meet to work this through, and circulate it back to the wider group earlier in the New Year.

Overall, the Agency had given the strong message that industry needs to get more involved in setting its own guidance, and there are good reputational and cost reasons why we should do so. This could also be a starting point for the development of industry-led best practice in general, at a time when the EA is proposing more stringent regulation if standards are not improved.

If you would like to be kept closely up to date with this process, please email william.bushby@adbioresources.org and ask to be added to the Training, Safety and Environment Management email list.