Monitoring and enforcement of materials facilities
Published 11 December 2025
Applies to England and Wales
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/materials-facilities-waste-sampling-and-reporting/monitoring-and-enforcement-of-materials-facilities
The environmental permit conditions imposed by Schedule 9 of the Environmental Permitting Regulations will be enforced:
- in England by the Environment Agency
- in Wales by Natural Resources Wales
Once notified as a materials facility, you must comply with the sampling, measuring, recording and reporting requirements as specified in the regulations. That is until you are no longer required to notify as a materials facility and choose to withdraw your notification.
How regulators will monitor compliance
Regulators will monitor your compliance with sampling, measuring, recording and reporting requirements through compliance activities which may include:
- announced and unannounced audits carried out by visits to facilities, including the inspection of activities and relevant documentation
- virtual or remote audits
- desktop audits of data submissions
Audits may focus on:
- how samples are taken
- whether samples are representative and follow the written methodology
- assessment of the recorded and reported data
Additional compliance activities may be undertaken based on intelligence and outcomes of previous audits.
Audits may be combined with compliance monitoring of other waste regulations, for example, duty of care and transfrontier shipments of wastes, as well as wider permit compliance.
Enforcement
The regulator will employ the enforcement powers available to them under the Environmental Permitting Regulations in England and Wales.
If you do not comply with the requirements, including failing to notify, you may be subject to enforcement action in line with your regulator’s enforcement policy.