Giant Hogweed disposal: still a bit of a grey area?
After a numerous lengthy discussions with well informed experts at the Environment Agency and countless fruitless sessions trawling the internet, the available advice on the subject of Giant Hogweed is patchy and contradictory. Current legislation, interpreted by the Environment Agency states that an individual or organisation must not;
‘plant or encourage the spread of Japanese Knotweed or Giant Hogweed; this can include moving contaminated soil from one place to another, or incorrectly handling and transporting contaminated material and plant cuttings.’
Documents published on the EA website recommend that Hogweed should be dealt with as follows;
‘To clear ground contaminated with giant hogweed, you may need to remove soil up to 4m away from the plants and to a depth of 1.5m. You will need to check for re-growth regularly. You should spray re-growth with herbicide before the plants flower.’
Interpretation of this advice is highly individual. One EA employee stated that in their opinion knowingly taking Hogweed contaminated soil to standard landfill would constitute encouraging its spread, although another thought this not to be the case. An advisory document published on the EA website on disposal of Giant Hogweed contaminated soil stated only that material;
‘Should be taken to a landfill site or by piling on site and composting.’
This implies that removal to standard landfill is legally acceptable and makes no mention of special disposal measures. However, the Government backed NetRegs on invasive weeds and contaminated soil state that material must carry waste transfer notes and be transported in appropriately covered vehicles and appears to include Giant hogweed under this umbrella. The Net Regs document (see link below) also states that;
‘Contaminated soil and weeds are likely to be classed as non-hazardous waste. Note that non-hazardous is a different category from inert.’
Suggesting that special measures are indeed a legal requirement for Hogweed disposal; our advice would be to err on the side of caution and treat material contaminated with Giant Hogweed seeds and shoots in exactly the same way as you would treat a load contaminated with Japanese Knotweed. I will endeavour to keep up to date with new developments and would welcome any input from those better informed than myself.
http://www.netregs.gov.uk/netregs/275207/1863538/1943576/?version=1&lang=_e
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