Choosing waste exemptions for waste management activity
How to choose the right waste exemptions for your business, comply with exemption conditions, and know if you need to register.
Applies to England
Waste exemptions are changing. Read the consultation supplementary response document to find out more.
A waste exemption is a waste management activity that is exempt from needing an environmental permit. Each waste exemption has conditions that you must comply with.
If you cannot meet the conditions, you may need an environmental permit to carry out the activity.
You can register a waste exemption through the waste exemption service. Read the guidance on this page first.
Exemption categories
Waste exemptions are grouped under 4 types of waste activity:
- storing waste
- treating waste
- using waste
- disposing of waste
Each exemption has its own guidance setting out:
- what activities are allowed
- the conditions of the exemption
All exemptions have to be registered, except for 3 relating to temporary storage and collection points – see the section ‘Exemptions you do not need to register’ in this guidance.
See the full list of waste exemption guides.
Exemption conditions
You must comply with the conditions of each exemption to make sure you do not cause harm to people or the environment.
You must not:
- cause risk to water, air, soil, plants or animals
- cause a nuisance through noise and odours
- adversely affect the countryside or places of special interest
Read the list of waste exemption guides to make sure you register only what you need and can comply with the conditions.
If you do not comply with waste exemption conditions, your activity will be illegal. The Environment Agency may deregister your exemption and take enforcement action.
Registering a waste exemption
Most waste exemptions must be registered with the Environment Agency through the waste exemption service.
You’ll need to give the following information:
- exemptions you want to register - see the list of waste exemption guides
- name, address and contact details of the person or business carrying out the waste activity
- site address and postcode where the exemption will be used, or a grid reference
- for a limited company or limited liability partnership, the company registration number and registered address
Your waste exemption will last for 3 years from the date you register. Details about your business and exemption will be added to the public register of exempt waste sites.
Registering an exemption on a farm
For waste exemptions on a farm, including outlying land or discrete farmyards being managed as a single farm unit, you must register the exemption to the farm.
Yards or land parcels with different addresses and correspondence addresses are separate units and should be registered as separate sites.
Registration rules
You cannot register more than one of the same exemption at the same place at the same time. Only the first registration will be valid.
Only one business can register a particular exemption at one site. Other organisations cannot register the same exemption at that site. Only the first registration will be valid.
You can renew your exemption at the end of the 3-year registration period. You cannot renew your exemption earlier, or de-register and re-register it to increase the amount of waste allowed.
Exemptions you need to register with the local council
There are 2 waste exemptions that you need to register with your local council, not the Environment Agency. These are:
- T3 – treatment of waste metals and metal alloys by heating for the purposes of removing grease
- T7 – treatment of waste bricks, tiles and concrete by crushing, grinding or reducing in size
If the local council is:
- in England or Wales, you must register where your main business is
- outside England and Wales, you must register where the waste activity is carried out
Find a description of exemptions T3 and T7 in the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.
Renewing an exemption
If you still need an exemption after 3 years, you can renew it. The Environment Agency will contact you a month before it expires to tell you what to do. You cannot renew your exemption before the Environment Agency has been in touch.
If you miss the renewal date your exemption will expire and you’ll need to start a new registration.
Deregistering an exemption or updating your details
Use the waste exemption service to:
- deregister waste exemptions you no longer need
- update your contact details if they’ve changed
You’ll need:
- your waste exemption (WEX) registration number
- the email address you used to register the exemption
Bulk registration
If you want to register the same exemption at 30 or more sites (known as bulk registration) use the bulk and linear networks registration form instead of the digital service.
Linear networks
Some waste exemptions take place on a stretch of road, river, canal or railway, rather than a site with a single postcode. These stretches are known as linear networks.
If your waste activity involves work along a linear network, you may need to register using the bulk and linear networks registration form instead of the online service.
The following exemptions may be needed for waste activity along linear networks:
- U1 Use of waste for maintenance work in construction
- D1 Deposit of waste from dredging of inland waters
- D2 Deposit of waste from a railway sanitary convenience
- U12 Use of mulch (where the mulch is produced and used on site)
An example of a linear network registration would be a U1 exemption to maintain an existing road by filling in potholes along several miles.
Linear network exemptions have conditions set at tonnages per linear mile. The specific conditions are set out in the individual exemption guides.
Registering an exemption on a linear network
You can register just once to cover the whole linear network.
You will need to:
- register in the name of the operator, at their registered office or main place of business
- identify the network to which the exemption applies
Identifying a linear network
Divide the linear network into areas of work and use a map or spreadsheet to give grid references of where these areas start and finish. The areas can vary according to the nature and size of the work activity, but if they can be identified, they can be registered.
Fill out the bulk and linear networks registration form and submit it with a copy of a map or spreadsheet showing the network. If it’s a spreadsheet you will also need to include:
- the nearest town or district, and county
- name of watercourse or stretch of road
- grid references showing the start and end points of the stretch it is referring to
Charges for registering exemptions
It’s currently free to register waste exemptions. The exception is the T11 WEEE exemption which costs £1,221 to register for 3 years. This charge is to cover repairing or refurbishing waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE).
The Environment Agency is proposing to introduce charges for waste exemptions. You can take part in the consultation on charge proposals until 20 January 2025.
Exemptions you do not need to register
You do not need to register non-waste framework directive (NWFD) exemptions. You must still comply with the exemption conditions.
There are 3 NWFD exemptions:
- Temporary storage at the place of production
- Temporary storage of waste at a place controlled by the producer
- Temporary storage at a collection point
Under NWFD exemptions you can carry out some treatments on the waste to help with storage and collection.
The treatments are to make waste you produced easier to store and collect or to dispose of somewhere else. They must not change the characteristics of the waste.
Examples of these types of waste treatment are:
-
compacting paper and cardboard
-
shredding confidential papers
-
separating out recyclables such as paper, plastic and glass from mixed waste
Read the individual exemptions in the list of waste exemption guides to find out more.
When you might need a permit
If you cannot comply with the exemption conditions, you may need an environmental permit instead.
Installations
If your waste activities are part of an installation process, those activities must be included in your installation permit. You must not use waste exemptions as part of an installation.
An installation is a large scale process with a potentially higher risk of causing pollution, for example:
- landfill site
- large chicken farm
- food factory
- chemical plant
- power station
Find out about environmental permits for installations.
Contact the Environment Agency
General enquiries
National Customer Contact Centre
PO Box 544
Rotherham
S60 1BY
Email enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk
Telephone 03708 506 506
Telephone from outside the UK (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm GMT) +44 (0) 114 282 5312
Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.