Landspreading waste

This guidance is for farmers that import wastes such as paper sludge and food wastes to spread on their land.

What you must do

If you landspread wastes such as paper sludge, compost, dredging spoil or ash, you may need:

an environmental permit or an exemption from environmental permitting in England or Wales
an exemption from waste management licensing in Northern Ireland or Scotland.

If you have an exemption or an environmental permit you must ensure that you do not:

endanger human health or cause pollution to water, air or soil
pose a risk to plants or animals
cause a nuisance, eg noise or odour
adversely affect the countryside or places of special interest.

Permits, exemptions and requirements for landspreading

	Type of permit or exemption reference
Landspreading activity	England and Wales	Northern Ireland	Scotland
Landspreading sewage sludge on agricultural land Read our guidance on landspreading sewage sludge.	Comply with the Sludge Regulations	Comply with the Sludge Regulations	Comply with the Sludge Regulations
Securely storing sewage sludge to be spread on agricultural land	S3 exemption (previously paragraph 8 exemption)	Paragraph 10 exemption	Paragraph 8 exemption
Landspreading sewage sludge on non-agricultural land	Standard permit SR2010 No.6 (previously paragraph 6 exemption)	Paragraph 10A exemption	Paragraph 8 exemption
Spreading waste on agricultural land for benefit or ecological improvement	Standard permit SR2010 No.4 or U10 exemption for spreading on agricultural land (previously paragraph 7 exemption)	Paragraph 9 exemption	Paragraph 7 exemption
Spreading waste on non-agricultural land for benefit or ecological improvement	Standard permit SR2010 No.4 or U11 exemption for spreading on non-agricultural land (previously paragraph 7 exemption)	Paragraph 9 exemption	Paragraph 7 exemption
Spreading waste for reclamation or improvement of land	Standard permit or U11 exemption (previously paragraph 9 exemption)	Paragraph 11 exemption	Paragraph 9 exemption

Comply with the conditions of your exemptions

To qualify for exemptions from environmental permitting (England and Wales) or waste management licensing (Northern Ireland and Scotland) you must comply with other requirements. For example:

you must only spread waste types that are listed in the regulations
you must not exceed the quantities for the specific type of waste you are spreading
you must store waste in a secure place before spreading
you must not spread waste on land that is frozen, waterlogged or covered in snow
your treatment of land may need to benefit wildlife or agriculture.

In England and Wales the regulations on environmental permits and exemptions changed on 6 April 2010. The types and quantities of wastes you can spread on land have been reduced, so you will now need an environmental permit to spread wastes like paper sludge on farmland.

If you registered an exemption for landspreading waste or storing sewage sludge before 6 April 2010, you will have time to prepare for the changes. The Environment Agency’s transitional provisions table shows the dates when you have to move into the new system and have a new standard permit or exemption.

Environment Agency: Transitional provisions for environmental permitting and exemptions (Adobe PDF - 62KB)

For details of exemptions from environmental permitting (exempt waste operations) and the limits you must comply with, see Schedule 3 of the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010.

Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010: Schedule 3 (Adobe PDF - 689KB)
Environment Agency: Waste exemptions

In Northern Ireland, for a full list of exempt wastes, see Schedule 2, paragraph 9, table 3 of the Waste Management Licensing (Northern Ireland) Regulations 2003.

Waste Management Licensing Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003

In Scotland, for a full list of exempt wastes, see Appendix 4 of Section 5 of the Prevention of Environmental Pollution from Agricultural Activity (PEPFAA) Code.

Scottish Government: Section 5 of the PEPFAA Code

Standard permits for landspreading in England and Wales

The new standard permits for landspreading in England and Wales are mobile plant permits. This means that an organisation holds a permit that is not for a specific location. Every time the organisation wants to spread waste they must complete a deployment notification form.

Environment Agency: Standard permit - mobile plant for landspreading (SCR 2010 No.4)
Environment Agency: Standard permit - mobile plant for landspreading sewage sludge (SR2010 No.6)

Nitrate vulnerable zones

In England, Scotland and Wales, check if you are in a nitrate vulnerable zone (NVZ). If you are within an NVZ you will need to follow certain rules, such as limiting the amount of organic and inorganic nitrogen fertiliser you use and keeping records.

England and Wales: Nitrate vulnerable zone (NVZ) rules
Scotland: Nitrate vulnerable zones (NVZs)

In Northern Ireland all farmers must comply with spreading rules under the Nitrate Action Programme Regulations and the Phosphorous Regulations.

Northern Ireland: Nitrate Action Programme and Phosphorus Regulations