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Exemptions - Agricultural waste

Find out about the new system for registering agricultural waste exemptions.

What are exemptions?

Activities involving the storage, recycling or disposal of waste generally require an Environmental Permit.

Some activities pose less of a risk to the environment and human health and are exempt from requiring an environmental permit. Farmers can benefit from a large number of these exemptions for managing the waste produced on farms. As virtually all businesses produce wastes they are almost certain to need to register one or more exemptions.

Farmers had until May 2007 to register their exemptions, when the law changed to make agricultural waste subject to the same controls as other sectors. Currently, over 80,000 farmers have registered their exemptions with us.

The exemptions are changing

Although regulation is relatively new for agricultural waste, our current exemptions system has been in place for nearly 15 years. Some minor changes have been made over that time, but a complete overhaul was needed so that the exemptions could meet the needs of industry and reflect our current knowledge of environmental protection.

New regulations were introduced on 6 April 2010 which changed the exemptions system.

How does this affect me?

From 6 April 2010, anyone registering exemptions for the first time will need to apply under the new system. Find out about the new system here:

If you have already registered your exemptions, you will have until 1 October 2013 to register under the new system. We have provided guidance to help you prepare.

The new system has provided some brand new exemptions which you may wish to register for activities you may be carrying out on your farm. Find out more information here:

We have also produced a list of frequently asked questions (FAQs) for farmers about the exemptions review. You can read this at the link below:

Look at the table below to find out when you will need to transfer over to the new exemptions system: