Statutory guidance

Requirement to notify as a materials facility: RPS 327

Updated 7 March 2025

Applies to England

This regulatory position statement (RPS) does not change your legal requirement to comply with the notification requirements contained in paragraph 1(2) of Chapter 1 of Part 2 of Schedule 9 of the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016 when you both:

• consolidate waste material into bulk quantities
• receive less than 75 tonnes of waste material per supplier per reporting period

However, the Environment Agency will not normally take enforcement action against you if you do not comply with paragraph 1(2) of Chapter 1 of Part 2 of Schedule 9 of the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016 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 to those materials facilities (MFs) that both:

• consolidate waste material into bulk quantities
• receive less than 75 tonnes of waste material per supplier per reporting period

2. Conditions you must comply with

You must:

• have an environmental permit for a waste operation and comply with that environmental permit
• notify the Environment Agency with your permit number by emailing mfregs@environment-agency.gov.uk before you use this RPS
• keep records of assessment for 2 years from the date of the last use of the RPS to show that you have complied with this RPS and make these records available to the Environment Agency on request

You must not use this RPS if your MF:

• receives equal to or more than 75 tonnes of waste material from any one supplier during a reporting period
• produces ‘specified output material’

‘Specified output material’ means a batch of material (whether it is waste or not) that is produced from a separating process for waste material, and made up of one or more of the following kinds of material:

• glass
• metal
• paper
• card
• plastic
• fibre-based composite

3. Things to note

If you meet the activity to which this RPS applies, you do not need to:

• notify the Environment Agency that you are a MF operator
• pay the additional subsistence charge as an MF
• measure and report the amount of waste materials received per supplier per reporting period

This does not change the legal requirement as an operator of a MF to assess the amount of waste material that the facility is likely to receive during the ‘relevant year’.

‘Relevant year’ means the period of 12 months that commences on the first day of a reporting period.

4. When you must check back

The Environment Agency intends to review this RPS by 1 December 2027.

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.

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 emailing mfregs@envionment-agency.gov.uk and put RPS 327 in the subject

6. Contact the Environment Agency

If you have any questions about this RPS email mfregs@envionment-agency.gov.uk and put RPS 327 in the subject.