Does your wood or timber business need a permit, licence or exemption?

Your wood and timber business may need a permit, licence or exemption to carry on its activities and control its environmental impacts.

England and Wales
Northern Ireland and Scotland

England and Wales

Your wood and timber business may need one or more of the following permits, licences or exemptions.

Environmental permit if your business is a regulated facility. This includes:

Installations and mobile plant if you carry out part A(1), A(2) or B listed activities.

Installations and mobile plant

Waste operations and waste mobile plant if you carry out waste disposal or recovery activities.

Waste activities and waste mobile plant

Radioactive substances activities if you keep or use radioactive substances or store or dispose of radioactive waste.

Radioactive substances and wastes

Water discharge activities if you discharge sewage or polluting matter into surface water.

Discharges to water and sewer

Groundwater discharge activities if you discharge polluting matter into groundwater.

Discharges to water and sewer

Environmental permitting exemption if you carry out an exempt waste operation, exempt water discharge activity or exempt groundwater activity:

Waste exemptions
Discharges to water and sewer

Hazardous waste premises registration if you produce or remove hazardous waste:

Hazardous/special waste

Waste carrier or broker registration if you transport waste or arrange for someone else’s waste to be disposed of or recovered:

Waste storage and transport

Trade effluent consent or agreement if you discharge trade effluent into the public sewerage system:

Discharges to water and sewer

Water abstraction or impounding licence if you take or hold water from a watercourse:

Water use and abstraction

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Northern Ireland and Scotland

Your wood and timber business may need one or more of the following permits, licences, authorisations, registrations or exemptions.

Pollution prevention and control permit if you operate an installation or mobile plant which carries out:

  • part A, B or C activities: Northern Ireland
  • part A or B activities: Scotland.

Installations and mobile plant

Waste management licence or exemption if you carry out certain waste management activities or use waste mobile plant:

Waste activities and waste mobile plant
Waste exemptions

Hazardous/special waste notification if you move hazardous waste:

Hazardous/special waste

Waste carrier or broker registration if you transport waste or arrange for someone else’s waste to be disposed of or recovered:

Waste storage and transport

Radioactive substances certificate of registration if you keep or use radioactive substances and a radioactive waste authorisation if you store or dispose of radioactive waste:

Radioactive substances and wastes

Water discharge consent or groundwater authorisation or authorisation under the Controlled Activities Regulations (Scotland) if you discharge sewage or polluting material into rivers, streams, lochs, loughs, ponds, canals, reservoirs, coastal water, estuaries or groundwater:

Discharges to water and sewer

Trade effluent consent or agreement if you discharge trade effluent into the public sewerage system:

Discharges to water and sewer

Water abstraction or water impounding authorisation or authorisation under the Controlled Activities Regulations (Scotland) if you take or hold water from surface water or groundwater:

Water use and abstraction

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Guidance for your wood and timber business

All wood and timber guidance
Public timber procurement policy