There is one standard rule for sites accepting less than 5,000 tonnes of waste per annum.
The inputs are limited to source segregated household and similar wastes and do not include:
- dusts
- powders
- loose fibres, or
- hazardous wastes such as asbestos.
Wastes can be:
- bulked up for recovery elsewhere, and
- treated by manual sorting, separation, screening, baling, shredding and compaction into different components for recovery.
These rules do not permit the burning of any wastes:
- in the open
- inside buildings, or
- in any form of incinerator.
Applying for a standard permit
You can apply for a standard permit if you can comply with the standard rules and meet the following risk criteria:
- the quantity of waste that can be accepted onto the site is less than 5,000 tonnes per annum
- all wastes must be stored on impermeable surface with sealed drainage
- the permitted activities must not be carried out within 500 metres of any residential property or workplace
- the only discharges to controlled waters are surface water from the roofs of buildings and from areas of the site not used for the storage or treatment of wastes
- the activities are not carried out within 200 metres of a European site, Ramsar site or Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). You can find out this information by calling us on 0370 8506506, or by visiting either of the websites below (depending on whether your site is in England or Wales):
Applying for a bespoke permit
If you cannot comply with any of the standard rules, or meet any one of the criteria listed above, then you must apply for a bespoke permit. Your application must include additional information about the criteria that you cannot meet and how you intend to control the associated risks:
Cost of standard permits
The cost of standard permits can be found within our charging scheme. Please visit the Environmental Permitting (EP) charges page.
Standard rules
You can find the standard rules sets, generic risk assessment, guidance and application form by using the links below.
Look at the standard rules that you want to apply for and check that:
- the permitted activities include all the ones that you want to carry out
- the permitted waste types include all the wastes that you want to accept onto the site
- the permitted waste quantity is sufficient
- you can comply with all the other rules.We have written guidance to help you understand how to comply with the rules.
Download and check the rules:
We carried out a risk assessment to develop the risk criteria for these activities to produce the standard rules. We have provided it for your information, but you do not need to agree with it or send us a signed copy:
Record of changes to standard rules and generic risk assessment
A record of the changes to the standard rules and generic risk assessment since they were first published is available from the link below. The record of change was last updated in April 2010. If you operate under this set of standard rules, you must comply with the current version that is linked to this web page:
Guidance on how to comply with your standard permit
Guidance is provided in a document called 'How to Comply with your Environmental Permit'. This is available to download from our Environmental Permitting guidance page:
Application form and explanatory notes
The Environmental Permitting Regulations application form is available from the link below.
