Guidance

D3 waste exemption: depositing waste from a portable sanitary convenience

The D3 exemption allows the burial of waste from a portable toilet, to avoid long-distance transportation of small quantities of waste to sewage treatment works.

Applies to England

Types of activity you can carry out

This includes:

  • a small group of Scouts camping at a remote site for a night with portable toilets, which then intends to bury the waste from the toilets

Types of activity you cannot carry out

You cannot:

  • deposit waste from a non-portable sanitary convenience
  • deposit waste by spreading or tipping it onto land
  • bring toilet waste in from other places to deposit on your land
  • bury cesspit waste

Type of waste you can deposit

The waste codes are those listed in the List of Wastes (LoW) Regulations. You need to make sure your waste fits within the relevant waste code and description.

Waste code Type of waste
200399 Waste from portable sanitary conveniences only

Amount of waste you can deposit

You can deposit up to one cubic metre of waste in any 12 month period.

Key conditions

You must not deposit waste within 10 metres of any watercourse or 50 metres of any spring, well or borehole.

You can only bury waste at the place of production. This means the place where the toilet is used.

Other things you need to know

In most cases it is better to dispose of the waste to a foul sewer at sites specially designed to do this. Most permanent campsites and caravan sites usually have a chemical toilet disposal point.

You can deposit waste from a railway sanitary convenience under:

If you want to discharge sewage via a septic tank or similar treatment process, read our guidance on permits for surface water discharges and groundwater activity.

Register a D3 exemption

You need to register this exemption with us if you meet the requirements:

Updates to this page

Published 12 September 2019

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