Olew gwastraff
What you must do
Store waste oil correctly
In England if you store unused oil, waste vegetable or cooking oil, or waste synthetic oils you may need to comply with the Oil Storage Regulations. Mineral-based waste oil is exempt from the Oil Storage Regulations, but you will need to comply with the environmental permitting regulations.
Environmental permits
In Northern Ireland andScotland, if you store any kind of oil on your premises, including waste oil, you must comply with the Oil Storage Regulations.
In Wales the Oil Storage Regulations do not apply.
Even if the regulations do not apply to your business, you should still consider meeting the requirements of the Oil Storage Regulations, as they aim to prevent water pollution. If you pollute water you may be committing an offence and you could be prosecuted and fined.
Oil storage
You must store all your waste securely and comply with your duty of care. Read our guidance on your waste responsibilities.
Dispose of waste oil safely
Waste oils, except edible oil, are classed as hazardous/special waste and should be disposed of accordingly.
Wastes contaminated with oils, for example oily rags, would in most cases be classed as hazardous/special waste. Read our guidance for hazardous/special waste.
Environment Agency: How to find out if waste oil and wastes that contain oil are hazardous (Adobe PDF - 642KB)
If you have waste oil to dispose of, make sure it is taken or collected for recycling by a licensed business. As a construction or demolition business, if you transport your waste to a disposal site, you will need to be registered as a waste carrier.
Waste carriers, brokers and dealers
Use our waste directory to find licensed sites in your area that can recycle or dispose of waste oil.
Waste Directory: Find your nearest waste site
You must not mix waste oil with any other materials, including different types of oils. If you mix hazardous/special waste with other materials, the whole load will be classed as hazardous/special waste. This will make it more expensive for you to dispose of. You must have an appropriate permit or licence if you want to mix different types of hazardous/special wastes.
You must not tip oil into drains or onto land as this can result in the pollution of rivers and groundwater and cause land contamination.
Trade effluent is any liquid waste you discharge from your business.
Before you discharge trade effluent into a public sewer you must have a trade effluent consent or enter into a trade effluent agreement with your water or sewerage company or authority. You must comply with the conditions of your consent or agreement.
Trade effluent - discharges to sewers
Water UK: Water and sewerage operators
Check if you need a permit to burn waste oil
If you burn waste oil in an appliance you may need:
- in England and Wales, an environmental permit or exemption
- in Northern Ireland and Scotland, a pollution, prevention and control (PPC) permit, waste management licence or exemption.
Environmental permits
Pollution prevention and control permits
Waste management licences
You must not burn waste oil on a bonfire as this will cause air pollution.
Good practice
If you use oil filters, for example for engine lubricating oil, you should drain waste oil from the filters and send them as hazardous/special waste to be crushed and recycled. This also makes the waste oil easier to handle and to send for recovery.
