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You may need to apply to the Environment Agency for an environmental permit if your business uses, recycles, treats, stores or disposes of waste or mining waste. This permit can be for activities at one site or for mobile plant that can be used at many sites.

If you are carrying out a waste activity, you can meet the permit requirement using one of the following:

• a regulatory position statement the Environment Agency does not currently require a permit for that activity
• an exemption you do not need a permit for the activity, but you must still register your exemption with the Environment Agency
• a standard rules permit a set of fixed rules for common activities
• a bespoke permit tailored to your business activities

There is separate guidance on how to register as a waste carrier if you are a waste transporter, buyer, seller, broker or dealer.

Check if your activity is covered by a regulatory position statement

If your activity is covered by a regulatory position statement (RPS), the Environment Agency will not normally take enforcement action against you if you have not applied for a permit, provided:

• your activity meets the description set out in the RPS
• you comply with the conditions of the RPS
• your activity does not, and is not likely to, cause environmental pollution or harm human health

Each RPS has an expiry date. You should check with the Environment Agency before this expiry date to make sure they have not withdrawn the RPS. If they have, you may need to register an exemption or apply for a permit for your activity.

Check for an RPS if you are:

• using waste
• treating waste
• disposing of waste
• storing waste

Check if there is an exemption for your activity

If your activity is covered by an exemption, and you register this exemption with the Environment Agency, you will not need an environmental permit.

Its free to register waste exemptions (besides the T11 WEEE exemption) and registration lasts for 3 years.

Find out if your activity is covered by an exemption and register it as exempt.

If you do not follow the limits and conditions in your exemption, the Environment Agency can cancel or de-register it.

Fees and charges for permits

You must pay a fee to apply for a permit.

The application charges are listed in tables 1.15 to 1.17 of the environmental permits and abstraction licences: tables of charges.

You must send payment with your application.

If your application is successful, the Environment Agency will charge you an annual subsistence fee while you have a permit. This fee depends on your activity and the type of permit you have.

You can contact the Environment Agency if you need help working out how much to pay.

Check if you need a standard rules permit

You can apply for a standard rules permit if your operation meets the relevant description and rules, but:

• you cannot change (vary) the rules and you have no right of appeal against them
• if you want to change your operations and so will not meet the criteria of the standard permit anymore, you will have to apply to make it a bespoke permit instead
• if there is a change in your local environment after your permit has been issued (for example a change in the definition of a groundwater source protection zone) you may need to apply to change your permit

Read the standard rules if your activity involves:

• anaerobic digestion, including the use of resultant gas and storing digestate
• car and vehicle dismantling
• composting, sewage or sludge treatment, biogas
• deposit for recovery
• electrical insulating oil storage
• metal recycling, scrap metal and WEEE - not cars or vehicles
• mining, oil and gas
• mobile plant for land-spreading or treatment
• storage or treatment of waste - recycling, dredging, clinical, soil, tyre shred or wood
• waste transfer station or amenity site with or without treatment

Applying for a standard rules permit is quicker and costs less than a bespoke permit. But if you do not meet the conditions for the standard rules permits you must apply for a bespoke permit.

If you need to apply for more than one standard rule at the same site or add a standard rule to a bespoke permit, you must confirm that each standard rule covers a self-contained and separate activity.

You should not apply for more than one standard rule to split a single operation.

How to apply for a standard rules environmental permit

You can apply online for most standard rules environmental permits.

Before you submit your permit application, you must check your site meets the standard rules location criteria. You can contact the pre-application advice service to request a heritage and nature conservation screening.

Apply for a standard rules environmental permit.

How to apply for a bespoke permit

You must apply for a bespoke permit if your operation does not fit the conditions of a standard rules permit.

Before you apply you must:

• check you meet the legal operator and competency requirements (including technical competency)
• develop a 