Even if the Waste Incineration Directive (WID) does not apply to your plant, you may still require:
- an environmental permit or exemption (England and Wales)
- a pollution prevention and control (PPC) permit (Northern Ireland and Scotland)
- a waste management licence or exemption (Northern Ireland and Scotland).
Your plant may also need to comply with other legal requirements, such as the Animal By-Products Regulations.
If you burn quantities of waste over set limits, your incinerator will be regulated through the environmental permitting or the PPC regime.
Burning non-hazardous waste
If you incinerate non-hazardous waste in a plant with a capacity of between 50kg and one tonne per hour that is excluded from WID, you will need:
- in England and Wales a Part B environmental permit
- in Northern Ireland a Part C PPC permit
- in Scotland a Part B PPC permit.
If you incinerate non-hazardous waste in an excluded plant with a capacity of one tonne or more per hour, you will need:
- in England and Wales a Part A(1) environmental permit
- in Northern Ireland and Scotland a Part A PPC permit.
If you burn non-hazardous waste in an ‘excluded plant’ with a capacity to burn less than 50kg per hour, your activity may be covered by an exemption for environmental permitting (England and Wales) or waste management licensing (Northern Ireland and Scotland).
Environment Agency: Burning waste in an exempt incinerator - Paragraph 29 exemption
Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA): Burning waste in an exempt incinerator - Paragraph 29 exemption
SEPA: Burning waste in an exempt incinerator - Paragraph 29 exemption
Burning hazardous waste
If you incinerate hazardous waste in an excluded plant, regardless of the quantities or capacities involved, you will need:
- in England and Wales a Part A(1) environmental permit
- in Northern Ireland and Scotland a Part A PPC permit.
Burning waste gases
If you incinerate gaseous compounds containing halogen (other than incidentally when burning solid or liquid waste) you will need:
- in England and Wales a Part A(1) environmental permit
- in Northern Ireland and Scotland a Part A PPC permit.
In Northern Ireland, you also need a Part A PPC permit to burn gaseous compounds containing nitrogen and sulphur.
In England and Wales, other parts of an environmental permit covering combustion activities may apply to your plant. In Northern Ireland and Scotland, other parts of a PPC permit or waste management licence covering combustion activities may apply to your plant.
Environmental permits
Pollution prevention and control permits
Waste management licensing
Burning waste in the open
You must not burn waste in the open unless you have registered an exemption. In England and Wales you may meet the requirements of an environmental permit exemption. In Northern Ireland and Scotland you may meet the requirements of a waste management licensing exemption.
Environment Agency: Burning waste plant tissue in the open - Paragraph 30 exemption
NIEA: Burning waste plant tissue in the open - Paragraph 30 exemption
SEPA: Burning waste plant tissue in the open - Paragraph 30 exemption
It is an offence to burn waste material that produces black smoke when burnt.
Air pollution from furnaces, boilers and bonfires
In this guideline:
Types of waste incineration
How do you comply with the Waste Incineration Directive?
When does the Waste Incineration Directive not apply?
Incinerating animal carcasses
Permits and licences for burning waste
Waste incineration further information
Waste incineration legislation
