Guide
Do you need a permit or an exemption?
Last updated 15 September 2026
If you only move small amounts of waste that your own business produced, a registered exemption is likely to be enough from 22 July 2027. If you carry anyone else's waste, or arrange waste for other people, you need a permit. An exemption still has to be registered with the Environment Agency and renewed every three years. It is lighter than a permit. It is not the same as doing nothing.
How this compares with today
The current system in England has two tiers. Lower-tier registration is free and covers businesses that only carry the waste they produce themselves, with construction and demolition waste excluded, along with charities and public bodies. Upper-tier registration currently costs £191.02 for three years and covers everyone else.
The new system keeps the same basic split but changes what sits on each side. A registered exemption replaces lower tier. A standard rules environmental permit replaces upper tier, and the permit now comes with identity, criminal record and tax checks and a competence requirement. Exemption holders do not have to show competence.
Who is likely to be exempt
The examples Defra has used are businesses moving small amounts of their own waste: a shop taking its own cardboard to a recycling centre, an office clearing its own bins, a tradesperson removing offcuts from their own job. The regulations do not yet define "small amounts" in public, so treat the boundary as open until the EA publishes its rules.
The grey areas
Your own construction and demolition waste currently needs upper-tier registration even though it is your own. Whether it will need a permit or an exemption from 2027 is not confirmed.
Charities, community groups and volunteers currently sit in lower tier. Their position under the new rules is not confirmed.
Farmers and agricultural waste have their own current arrangements. Not confirmed.
What an exemption still requires
You register it with the EA and renew it every three years. The regulations expressly require you to include your registration number in relevant advertising. You still owe the duty of care for your waste, which means keeping transfer records and using authorised sites. Digital waste tracking, which is being introduced across the UK in phases, may apply to you.Showing your permit number on adverts and vans
What happens if you get it wrong
Moving waste without the right authorisation is an offence. Councils have powers to seize vehicles used in waste offences, and Defra has said the most serious waste offences will carry up to five years in prison. If you take any money for taking waste away, assume you need a permit until the EA's guidance says otherwise.
Still to be confirmed
- The definition of "small amounts" and the full list of exempt activities.
- Whether registering an exemption costs anything.
- Whether identity checks apply to exemption registrations as well as permits.
- The treatment of own construction and demolition waste, charities and agricultural waste.
Frequently asked questions
- Is an exemption free?
- Lower-tier registration is free today. Whether the new exemption registration is free has not been announced.
- Do I need the competence assessment for an exemption?
- No. Competence applies to permit holders only.
- Can I move from an exemption to a permit later?
- Yes. If your work changes so that you start carrying other people's waste, apply for the permit before you start, not after.
Not sure which side of the line you are on? Use the permit checker.Check which permit you need
This guide is general information, not legal advice. The Environment Agency makes the final decision on any application.