For many clients, the discussion around WAC Testing starts and ends with compliance and cost. Yet there is a growing recognition that how you classify and dispose of soils is also a meaningful part of your environmental, social and governance

Landfills and regulators are placing increasing emphasis on the quality of documentation that accompanies each waste load. A well‑structured WAC Testing pack not only speeds up acceptance at the gate but also reduces the risk of disputes months or years

From 1 October 2025, the Street Works UK (SWUK) Material Classification Protocol becomes the default route for classifying excavation arisings from street and utility works, replacing the Environment Agency’s temporary RPS 298 and 299. That shift sounds niche, but it

On busy construction and infrastructure projects, “waste classification” and “WAC Testing” are often used interchangeably. In reality they answer two different questions – and getting them muddled can lead to expensive surprises when soils reach the landfill gate. Waste classification, carried

Every contractor has a story about the “budget‑busting” soil disposal package – the one where apparently straightforward arisings suddenly became much more expensive once the landfill saw the paperwork. In most cases, the problem was not that the material was

Brownfield and previously developed land often deliver the biggest planning wins, but they can also carry the highest waste risks. Historic fill, industrial processes, made ground and unknown backfill mean you are rarely dealing with simple natural soils. In this

UK waste legislation places a clear Duty of Care on producers. If you generate waste on a construction or infrastructure project, you remain responsible for ensuring it is correctly described, handled and sent to an appropriate facility. Landfill or treatment

Real‑world projects rarely generate neat, single‑source soil streams. More often you are dealing with a mixture of made ground, natural soils, demolition rubble, pockets of ash or clinker and the occasional buried surprise. These mixed arisings are exactly where classification

Deciding when to arrange WAC Testing is almost as important as deciding what to test. Book samples too early and you risk analysing soils that never leave site. Leave it too late and your muck‑away contractor may be waiting on

Few things cause more anxiety on a busy site than a WAC report showing failures against key acceptance criteria. Suddenly the disposal route everyone was relying on is in doubt and costs appear to be heading only one way. The