Guidance

Temporary storage of recyclable waste at collection points by or for charities: RPS 239

Updated 12 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.  

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 temporary storage of recyclable waste at collection points by or for charities.

This RPS only applies to:

• activities carried out by a charity
• activities carried out by organisations that give all the financial benefit for collecting the waste to a charity, for example a school
• waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) that can be reused or recycled 
• non-hazardous waste that can be recycled

Conditions you must comply with

You must store the waste:

• in secure containers  
• using a weatherproof covering, when storing WEEE containing hazardous materials or fluids, or storing whole appliances or parts that are to be reused
• in a secure place – one where you have taken all reasonable precautions to prevent waste escaping

You must keep records 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:

• store more than 5 cubic metres of waste at any one time
• store waste for longer than 3 months 
• carry out any waste treatment activity
• mix different types of waste

Things to note

Recycling scheme providers can offer rewards to organisations that temporarily store recyclable waste at collection points. Rewards can include payments to the establishment or undertaking that is storing the waste, or financial donations to charities.

Owners of these collection points would normally need an environmental permit for a waste operation if they are paid or receive donations for collecting this waste.

However, the Environment Agency recognises that small waste collection points encourage people to recycle waste.

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.

When you must check back

The Environment Agency intends to review this RPS by 30 November 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.

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  enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk  with RPS 239 in the subject

Contact the Environment Agency

If you have any questions about this RPS, email enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk with RPS 239 in the subject.