Waste Management Training Programme
Module 1 9th-10th September 2026, Module 2 7th-8th October 2026 and Module 3 18th-19th November 2026
Where: Park Hotel Mullingar
The construction industry produces significant amounts of soil waste and surplus soil each year. The most recent EPA figures released on 20 September 2024 show Ireland produced 9 million tonnes of construction waste in 2023 of which 82% was soil and stone. Over 80% of this went to backfill sites while 7% went for disposal and 10% was recycled. In 2025 the register shows almost 8 million tonnes of soil registered as by product so it is growing rapidly and taking over from soil as waste.
These figures varies from year to year and rises and falls with the pattern of construction and development but By Product Greenfield soil registrations for 2025 amounted to 7.9 million tonnes. This contrasts with the annual figure for 2022 of 2.6 million tonnes under the previous notification system.
Soil and stone 17 05 04 is a mirror entry in the list of wastes and requires full assessment to decide if it is non hazardous or hazardous. This needs to be done before it can be consigned to an appropriate disposal, recovery or recycling destination or reused on site.
Management of soil is often a complex issue and as waste management legislation has evolved and our approach to recycling and recovery has developed, this has become even more of a concern for the construction sector. We will explore the definiton and meaning of soil and stone by products, the chemistry and biology of soil and how soils are tested, classified and specified. The predominance of Article 27 by-products and the changes in the recovery levy have changed the economics of bulk excavation dramatically in 2025 and for future years.
This course which we have developed in late 2024, is designed to demystify many of the issues around waste soil and stone classification, sampling and testing, site investigation and use of Article 27 to deal with soil as a by product rather than as waste. The course begins by exploring the issues around soil as a material and its physical and biological properties. We will then introduce the concepts of waste, by-products and products. We will look at the options for using surplus soil on sites, which includes retention on site of soil and stone materials. We will review options for offsite removal to waste management authorised facilities and the use of Article 27 to create by products. This will include a review of topsoil, subsoil, contaminated soil materials and issues around invasive species and asbestos in soils. We also have a specific regulator version of this course that looks are the issues from a regualtory perspective.
Soil sampling and testing is an important part of waste soil classification and this links both to the use of soils as by product and also selecting appropriate destinations for soil to be sent to for recovery, recycling or disposal. During the course you will have an opportunity to understand what type of testing is required for the soil that you produce including the certification of topsoil and also the criteria that you need to use if you intend to retain soil on site. We will go through the EPA soil recovery waste acceptance criteria used for waste facilities to ensure that you understand the linkages between the type of testing of the soil that you need to do and ensuring that your soils are suitable for backfill sites.
Not all soils are greenfield even though they are uncontaminated and suitable for reuse. Article 27 soil by product options that are not included in the national criteria for Greenfield soils BP N002/2024 can be dealt with using case by case notifications for non Greenfield soils. We will explain how to use the EDEN portal for both Greenfield and Brownfield soils. We will follow through in detail everything you need to know about registering and notifying Article 27 soils so that at the end of the course you will have the confidence to do your own applications.
This course was written in 2024 to ensure that delegates are provided with the most up-to-date information to ensure that they are able to top up their knowledge and stay completely up to date.
The course is offered as a one day programme and includes a manual that provides comprehensive details on the new national Article 27 criteria and how to comply with it. Copies of relevant guidance are also included within a ring binder that contains the manual.
We have designed this course for a range of people who work within the construction sector, engineers and designers, muck shifters and waste hauliers, recycling and recovery operators and local authority regulators.
All ETS training courses are provided with comprehensive courseware which includes a manual and any other supporting information that is required during the delivery of the training. Manuals are maintained in an up to date condition and are always relevant to the course that is being delivered. We design our training delivery so that they not only provide information with powerpoint slides, but also comprise group work and individual exercises to allow delegates to get a deeper understanding of the courseware. All our courses are delivered face to face and manuals are provided at the event to ensure every delegate has all of the information they need to have a positive, high quality training experience with us.
This course is delivered at both our Dublin, Mullingar and Cork venues.
There is no assessment for this course.
A Certificate will be issued to participants who successfully complete the course. Our waste collection permitting course is accredited by the Chartered Institution of Waste Management (CIWM). CIWM is a certification and approval body for the waste industry and independently accredits waste training within our training programmes. Certificates will be issued by post directly to learners within 2-3 weeks of the date of the course.
