Guidance

Storing and treating waste fire extinguishers: RPS 132

Updated 13 March 2024

Applies to England

This regulatory position statement (RPS) does not change your legal requirement to have or comply with an environmental permit for a waste operation.

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

• your activity meets 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 the storage and treatment of waste fire extinguishers before metal recovery. You can only use this regulatory position if supplying and maintaining fire extinguishers is a main activity of your business.

Treatment is limited to the manual dismantling and cutting of empty cylinders to prevent further reuse.

Conditions you must comply with

Before you use this RPS you must send the Environment Agency an environmental permit application by 1 September 2024.

You must stop using this RPS if your permit application is either:

• refused
• returned to you as incomplete (not ‘duly made’)

You must:

• tell the Environment Agency before you use this RPS, email wastetreatment@environment-agency.gov.uk with:

  • the site address or addresses you are undertaking the activity at
  • the maximum quantity of fire extinguishers you will store at any one time at any site under this RPS
  • the maximum quantity of fire extinguishers you will treat in any month at any site under this RPS
  • ‘RPS 132 – fire extinguishers’ as the subject of the email
• have a permit or operate under an exemption to recover parts from the fire extinguishers
• only store and treat extinguishers classified as waste code 16 05 05
• store waste fire extinguishers under cover and in a secure place
• store and treat waste fire extinguishers on an impermeable surface with sealed drainage
• empty all foams, water and powders from fire extinguishers into sealed containers before disposal or recovery
• dispose of foam, water or separated fractions containing Perfluoro octane sulfonate (PFOS),  Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) or Perfluorohexanesulfonic acid (PFHxS) for disposal by high temperature incineration off site
• separate and keep dry the different types of powders
• 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

You must not

• store more than 4,000 waste fire extinguishers at any one time before treatment
• store waste fire extinguishers for more than 3 months before treatment
• treat fire extinguishers that contain halons
• treat more than 1,000 fire extinguishers in any one month
• discharge carbon dioxide extinguishers to air if you can capture and reuse the contents
• discharge any foam to sewer from this operation

Things to note

You must allow inspection by the Environment Agency if you are operating under this RPS.

This RPS is an interim measure to allow sites to apply for the relevant waste operation permit to allow this activity.

Where foam and water has been separated into separate fractions you only need to send the fractions containing persistent organic pollutants for high temperature incineration.

When you must check back

The Environment Agency intends to withdraw this RPS on 1 September 2025.

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

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

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

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

If you cannot comply with this RPS

If you operate under this RPS but can no longer comply with it, you must stop the activity to which this RPS relates and must tell the Environment Agency immediately. Email  wastetreatment@environment-agency.gov.uk and put ‘RPS 132’ in the subject.

Contact the Environment Agency

If you have any questions about this RPS email enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk and put ‘RPS 132’ in the subject.