Following a consultation that ran from 11 November 2024 to 20 January 2025, the Environment Agency has introduced new charges aimed at tackling waste crime and funding regulatory work to tackle such crime. This includes an introduction of a charge to register waste exemptions.
From 1 July 2025, those registering a waste exemption will have to pay a registration fee and a compliance charge. Some exemptions do apply to this and discounts are available if multiple exemptions are registered.
This In Focus provides more detail on the new charges for waste exemptions.
Background
The Environment Agency is keen to tackle waste crime more seriously. In order to do that, it needs to raise funds to support their regulatory work which can also be used as an incentive for better compliance.
As part of that, it wants to make sure that those who register waste exemptions are actually complying with the conditions in the exemption. Usually, if an exemption cannot or is not being complied with, an environmental permit is required for the activity. However, the Environment Agency found in 2022 that 42% of those who registered a waste exemption were not complying with the conditions of the exemption. Often such exemptions can be used to hide illegal waste activities, and breaches of the exemptions can cost the taxpayer several million pounds a year.
As a result, the Environment Agency is keen to monitor compliance of waste exemptions better in order to deter criminals from operating. Charging for such exemptions will help the Environment Agency make improvements to their services and carry out proactive regulation.
The Environment Agency has said that the money raised will be used to:
Registration charge
Anyone who registers a waste exemption from 1 July 2025 will have to pay a £56 registration charge. This applies each time you register one or more exemption.
Compliance charge
Every registered exemption will also attract a compliance charge. The cost of this varies depending on the band in which the exemption falls, and the bands are based on the environmental risk of the exemption, the amount of regulatory effort it will take to check compliance and the practicality of delivering site-based compliance.
The table below shows what the compliance charge is for each waste exemption:
Discounts & exemptions
Any charity or organisation that exists for charitable purposes can register their exemption for free. However, this has to be done by calling the Environment Agency.
If you register more than one exemption in the upper band, band 1 and band 2, then you will pay the full compliance charge for the most expensive exemption, then a discounted rate for additional exemptions as follows:
Please note, there is no discount for a band 3 exemption in this scenario.
An exemption also exists for farmers who register multiple exemptions that are contained in a pre-defined list (see below). In this scenario, the farmer pays a capped charge of £88 for all exemptions plus the £56 registration charge. Any exemptions that are not listed are charged the normal standard compliance charge rate. The list is as follows:
What happens next?
If your exemption needs to be renewed or you are registering a new exemption, the charges will apply from 1 July 2025.
The Environment Agency also wants to introduce a waste crime levy as well as a fee for intervention. Whilst this was part of the earlier consultation, the feedback received on this is still being considered and the Environment Agency will publish a decision on this at a later date.
Guidance on waste exemption charges
The Environment Agency published the following guidances to help organisations and individuals in managing waste exemption charges:
