Documents & codes
What is inert waste?
Inert waste is waste that does not undergo significant physical, chemical or biological change — typically concrete, brick, stone and uncontaminated soil. It is the lowest-risk category for disposal.
Its value is in what it costs to dispose of and what it can be reused as. Clean inert material is frequently a resource rather than a waste, and keeping it clean is the difference between the two.
Contamination is what destroys that. A load of clean brick and concrete with plasterboard or timber mixed into it is no longer inert, and is charged and handled as though it never was.
Soil is the recurring difficulty. Whether soil is inert depends on whether it is contaminated, which is an assessment rather than an assumption, and it cannot be made by looking at it.
What goes wrong in practice
- Loads contaminated by a small quantity of another material, reclassifying the whole load.
- Soil assumed to be uncontaminated with no testing behind the assumption.
- Inert material sent to disposal when it could have been reused on the same site.