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Treatment of waste: what you need to know before you apply for a mobile plant deployment

Published 3 November 2026

Applies to England

You need to apply for a deployment each time you wish to treat the waste allowed under SR2022 No 2 or a bespoke permit.

As part of your application you’ll be asked to upload supporting documents. This guidance explains what documents you’ll need to upload and what information they should include.

You should read this guidance before starting your application form.

1. Detailed site plans

You’ll need to provide accurate and detailed site plans to show the areas of land where the proposed treatment and storage activities are planned to take place.

Your site plans must be clearly titled and must show:

• the operating site boundary, clearly outlined
• security and access arrangements, including additional details where alternative security other than that specified in the permit is to be provided (for example, containerised unit and buried pipework), or where others are responsible for site security of a larger redevelopment scheme and you are relying on that security for your plant
• the location of waste materials that need some form of treatment
• the location of the principal plant and equipment
• process treatment and storage areas, including any buildings, bays and fixed tanks, quarantine areas, areas of hardstanding, areas of impermeable pavement and sealed drainage (where it’s not possible to draw these clearly, include text to confirm all potentially polluting materials will be deposited, stored, treated or otherwise handled in an area of the site where an engineered containment and drainage system has been provided)
• drainage systems for the operating site, including all interceptors, sumps, bunding and discharge points
• the proposed location of boundary monitoring points and pollution control units, for example for noise, dust, odour and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emissions
• the location of potential receptors (for example, housing, controlled waters – groundwater and surface water), including those close to but outside your operating site boundary
• any special areas of conservation (SACs), special protection areas (SPAs), Ramsar sites or sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) within 1km of the operating site

2. Technically competent management certificates

You’ll need to upload certificates for your technically competent manager.

Your manager must be part of either:

• the Chartered Institution of Wastes Management (CIWM) and Waste Management Industry Training and Advisory Board (WAMITAB) scheme
• the Environmental Services Association (ESA) and Energy & Utility Skills (EU Skills) scheme

If they’re part of CIWM and WAMITAB, you should upload:

• their qualification certificate
• any current continuing competence certificate

If they’re part of the ESA and EU Skills scheme, you should upload a copy of their competence management system (CMS) certificate.

3. Material management procedures

You’ll need to:

• provide details of how waste and residual materials will be handled, stored and treated at your site
• specify the maximum capacities of quarantine facilities that will be used for the storage of waste for retesting, reprocessing or off‐site disposal

Mobile plants should generally be deployed at the site of origin or potential use of the waste. You should have a robust waste acceptance procedure in place to prevent unacceptable waste being brought onto your site.

You may have already provided some of this information in your environmental management system (EMS) during your permit application. You may refer to this and provide information on any additional, site‐specific procedures you will use. This should include information on how waste will be received, characterised, transported and tested (during and after treatment) to ensure it is fully recovered. You must not mix waste materials.

It might not be possible to treat some materials using the proposed technologies. The amounts of these materials are generally small when compared to the total waste input. You should tell us:

• what you intend to do with any materials that cannot be treated by the proposed technologies
• how they will be identified
• the methods you will adopt to ensure they are kept separate from other treatable materials or waste streams

You should include details of any containment units you will put in place to ensure untreatable waste materials and residual waste are kept separate to prevent or minimise pollution.

4. Conceptual site model and risk assessment

Depending on your permit type, we may ask you to provide a conceptual site model (CSM) and detailed site-specific risk assessment.

You should use this to provide detailed information on the likely impacts of your activities on the local environment.

We may not authorise an activity if we believe it will:

• pose unacceptable risks to any of the identified receptors
• reduce the quality of the environment

Your CSM and risk assessment should consider all potential sources of pollution, including:

• the contaminants
• ‘daughter’ products that may result from the treatment process
• waste residues (for example, waste waters)
• emissions, (for example, dust, fibres, particulates, vapours, gases, aerosols, odour, noise, vibration and VOCs)
• reagents used
• the final treated material
• storage of fuels or chemicals

It should also consider:

• all potential pollution pathways that exist without control measures, such as an engineered containment system, in place – this might include dermal contact, inhalation, migration through groundwater or fractured rocks, or surface water runoff
• the receptors around the site that may be at risk – for example, humans or controlled waters (surface and groundwater)
• all plausible pollution linkages (source-pathway-receptor relationships) that could result in harm to humans or the environment
• the likelihood and consequences of an impact on any special habitat sites, such as SPAs, SACs, Ramsar sites or SSSIs – you must factor this into your control measures

You can choose any format for your CSM and risk assessment, but your application will be easier for us to assess if you use the SR2022 No 2: risk assessment template.

You can also refer to the general guidance on risk assessments.

5. Pollution control 

You’ll need to give details of any site-specific measures needed to control or minimise emissions and prevent environmental pollution or harm to human health resulting from your activities.

This applies to:

• noise
• dust
• particulates
• fibres
• aerosols
• bio‐aerosols
• odour
• VOCs
• vapours
• fuel
• oil or chemical storage
• vibration
• pests

You should detail the control measures you will put in place to minimise risks and impacts identified in your risk assessment. For example, you should explain:

• how you’re going to collect, treat and contain any dust, fibres, particulates or aerosols from the treatment process
• how you’re going to minimise any noise and vibration at the site – for example, by strategic site layout, screening or temporary bunding
• how you’ll control or capture odours and VOC emissions
• if the material to be stored and treated will attract pests or scavengers, or is likely to release litter, how you’ll manage and control this
• how you’ll prevent or minimise groundwater and surface water contamination – give information on the nature and design of your containment systems (impermeable units), drainage systems and bunds

The guidance on risk assessment includes information on how to control risks that may result from your activities.

6. Emission monitoring plans

You’ll need to provide a site‐specific monitoring plan for any emissions that may be generated by the proposed activities.

This must include information on all of the following, if applicable to your operations:

• groundwater
• surface water
• air emissions
• noise
• vibration
• odour
• VOCs

Your plan should:

• specify the indicator parameters you propose to use for each of the emissions being monitored
• explain why they are the most appropriate parameters to detect impact and prevent pollution
• include both point‐source and wider (fugitive) emissions monitoring, depending on your technology

Where your risk assessment has shown there is an emissions risk which requires control, you must monitor to determine the emissions and the effectiveness of any abatement systems. For example, stockpiling at a site surrounded by residential properties would require air monitoring for dusts and VOCs both close to the stockpile and at boundaries, depending on location of receptors.

The level of monitoring depends on the risks involved. Your monitoring plan should also include:

• the pollutants to be monitored
• trigger levels for noise, dust and VOCs, if relevant to your process – table 1 gives guidance on how to set these
• emission limits and trigger levels for each pollutant
• the number and location of monitoring points for each type of emission
• influent and effluent details (only use this if there is no emission limit for a particular hazardous air pollutant – a 95% removal rate must be maintained at all times)
• monitoring protocol, including frequency of monitoring, type of equipment, calibration, accreditation, sample collection and procedure
• the experience and qualifications of those carrying out the monitoring and those responsible for interpreting and acting upon the results
• the action to be taken if an agreed trigger level is exceeded
• a baseline monitoring programme – background levels act as a reference for the relevant parameters and will alert you to an increase or decrease in emissions

6.1 Table 1

Type of pollution	Trigger levels
Noise	Normally, not more than 5dB above background noise level according to British Standard 4142. The aim of noise monitoring should be to ensure there is no reasonable cause for annoyance to persons beyond the operating boundary. Trigger levels based on the health and safety of on‐site employees are not appropriate. Check the Environment Agency guidance on noise and vibration management: environmental permits for more information.
Dust	Check the Environment Agency technical guidance on monitoring ambient air.
VOCs (based on the indicator parameter)	Check the guidance on risk assessments for your environmental permit for the relevant trigger level for the indicator parameter you have chosen. Where emission limits are not available for the VOCs compounds being monitored, we may accept available limits in the EH40 guidance. These might need further adjustment in line with methodologies where sensitive receptors are likely to be exposed over periods greater than 8 hours.

7. How to apply

Check the ‘Details’ section of Treatment of waste: apply to deploy mobile plant for how to apply.