Guidance

Removal of airworthy parts from waste aircraft: RPS 164

Published 14 January 2026

Applies to England

This regulatory position statement (RPS) does not change your legal requirement to:

• have an environmental permit where one is required
• comply with the conditions of your environmental permit

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 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

1. Activity this RPS applies to

This RPS applies when you can remove airworthy parts from a waste aircraft which is under a care and maintenance programme. 

2. Conditions you must comply with

You must ensure that:

• the aircraft is under a care and maintenance programme
• parts and materials not for re-use will be stored, recycled or disposed of appropriately
• parts and materials are removed solely to prepare the airframe for transport to a permitted site for further treatment
• any preparation for transport is limited to manual dismantling and must not change the nature of the waste

Parts and materials removed must be either:

• specifically requested by the aircraft owner or part owner
• removed to enable the aircraft to be stored safely
• for the purpose of recovery
• from military aircraft for security reasons

You must not:

• carry out cutting, shredding, shearing or mechanical dismantling of the airframe

3. Things to note

An airworthy part is a part taken to be used on another operational aircraft.

3.1 Aircraft that are not considered waste

Aircraft that are withdrawn from service do not necessarily become waste immediately. It is common practice for decommissioned aircraft to be placed into storage under a care and maintenance programme pending a decision about what to do with them.

They can remain in this state for months or even years. During this time, they may have parts removed either to support the operator’s remaining fleet or for resale. These aircraft may be:

• brought back into service
• ultimately scrapped

These aircraft are not waste until a decision is made that they will not fly again.   

3.2 Aircraft that are considered waste

In other circumstances, the intention may be to scrap a decommissioned aircraft after valuable airworthy parts have been recovered from it either as spares or for resale. This process is known as ‘parting out’ the aircraft.

One aircraft in a fleet may be taken out of service specifically to provide spare parts for the remainder. However, the process they go through initially is often indistinguishable from that for aircraft in storage. The aircraft continues to undergo care and maintenance while the ‘parting out’ takes place to ensure the airworthiness of the parts being removed.

These aircraft are waste because the decision has been made that they will not fly again and that they will be scrapped.

3.3 When a permit is required for waste aircraft

Parts (engines in particular) may be owned by a third party and leased to the aircraft operator. These will be removed and returned to the owner.

Once an aircraft becomes waste, the removal of its parts would normally require a permit. However, given that the aviation industry applies strict controls on the care and maintenance for re-use of parts and the decommissioning of aircraft, we consider that this would be disproportionate.

You do not need a permit for ‘parting out’ an aircraft.

When all parts required by the owner have been removed, the remainder of the airframe is broken up. This process is called ‘tearing down’ the aircraft and the materials are recycled or, where necessary, disposed of.

You must have a permit for ‘tearing down’ the aircraft.

The airworthiness of commercial aircraft is subject to stringent European Community (EC) regulation and is regulated by the Civil Aviation Authority and the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA). In particular, the maintenance of aircraft and parts including the re-use of parts recovered from decommissioned aircraft is subject to the requirements of EASA Part M (the management of aircraft maintenance) and Part 145 (the undertaking of aircraft maintenance). All airworthy parts are subject to certification by a Part 145 organisation.

Similar controls exist for military aircraft. Continuing airworthiness is controlled by the Military Aviation Authority using regulatory publications (MRP), particularly the continuing airworthiness engineering (CAE) 4000 Series. This is sometimes referred to as ‘MRP Part 145’ because of the parallels with EASA Part 145. 

This RPS relates to an activity that the Environment Agency considers is potentially suitable to be an exemption under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016. A change in law would be required for this.

4. When you must check back

The Environment Agency intends to review this RPS by 1 December 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 that this RPS relates to has 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.

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. Use the ‘Get emails about this page’ feature on the RPS publication page.

5. 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
• tell the Environment Agency immediately by contacting enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk with RPS 164 in the subject

6. Contact the Environment Agency

If you have any questions about this RPS, email enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk with RPS 164 in the subject.