Guidance

Burning or incinerating waste following an animal disease outbreak: RPS 251

Updated 9 April 2025

Applies to England

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/burning-waste-in-the-open-after-an-animal-disease-outbreak-rps-251/burning-waste-in-the-open-after-an-animal-disease-outbreak-rps-251

This regulatory position statement (RPS) does not change your legal requirement to have and comply with an environmental permit for a waste operation when you burn or incinerate waste following an animal disease outbreak or infection identified by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA).

However, the Environment Agency will not normally take enforcement action against you if you do not comply with these legal requirements provided that:

  • your activity and the circumstances meet the description set out in this RPS
  • you comply with the conditions set out in this RPS

In addition, your activity must not cause (or be likely to cause) pollution of the environment or harm to human health, and must not:

  • cause a risk to water, air, soil, plants or animals
  • cause a nuisance through noise or odours
  • adversely affect the countryside or places of special interest

Activity this RPS applies to

This RPS applies to burning in the open or incinerating (at a permitted site which does not have waste code 18 02 02 on their permit) after an animal disease outbreak or infection identified by APHA:

  • waste wood
  • particle board
  • straw
  • manure
  • poultry litter (including mixed-in poultry feed)
  • waste from bee keeping

Conditions you must comply with

You must keep records for 3 years to show that you have complied with this RPS and make these records available to the Environment Agency on request.

For waste incineration, you must

  • have a permit issued by the Environment Agency which authorises incineration
  • burn waste at a minimum temperature of 850°C
  • only incinerate waste wood, particle board, straw, manure, poultry litter (including mixed-in poultry feed), bee keeping waste, waste code 18 02 02, which is identified by APHA as infected or potentially infected from an animal disease outbreak
  • only incinerate infected waste moved under a licence issued by APHA and a consignment note from the Environment Agency
  • submit a risk assessment to the Environment Agency that shows you have systems in place for receiving, storing and handling waste coded as 18 02 02* and feeding it into the incinerator, to prevent the release of infectious material
  • not exceed the emission limits in your permit
  • get agreement from the Environment Agency by email that you can incinerate or co-incinerate waste before you move it from the place it was produced

To burn in the open, you must:

  • only burn at the place it was produced
  • only burn waste wood, particle board, straw, manure, poultry litter and bee keeping waste that has been identified as infected or potentially infected by APHA, or has been disinfected as part of disease control measures required by APHA
  • burn in a pit, or as recommended by APHA and in compliance with an APHA notice
  • store waste under cover before you burn it so that it does not get wet
  • inform your local Environment Agency office before you burn wood, particle board, straw, manure, poultry litter and bee keeping waste following an animal disease outbreak or infection
  • get agreement from your local Environment Agency office before burning if the location is in a groundwater source protection zone 1 (SPZ1)

Things to note

Infected straw, manure and litter are hazardous wastes. The waste code is HP9 (infectious) 18 02 02* – wastes with special requirements for collection and disposal to prevent infection. 

Bee keeping waste includes dead and diseased bees, infected and potentially infected bee hives, frames and bee keeping equipment.

You can view groundwater SPZs on Magic map. Or you can download groundwater SPZs or view them as a geographic information system (GIS) layer.

When you must check back

The Environment Agency intends to review this RPS by 1 March 2028.

The Environment Agency can withdraw or amend this regulatory position before the review date if they consider it necessary. This includes where the activity and circumstances that this RPS relates to have not changed.

You will need to check back from time to time, including at and before the review date, to see if this RPS still applies.

You can subscribe to email updates about this RPS. This will tell you if the RPS has changed and when it has been withdrawn.

This RPS remains in force until it is removed from GOV.UK or is otherwise identified as having been withdrawn.

If you cannot comply with this RPS

If you operate under this RPS but can no longer comply with it, you must:

Contact the Environment Agency

If you have any questions about this RPS, email enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk with ‘RPS 251’ in the subject.

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