Waste exemption charges
Updated 27 January 2026
Applies to England
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/waste-exemptions-how-to-choose-register-and-pay/waste-exemption-charges
1. Overview
Most businesses have to pay to register waste exemptions. Charges are made up of a registration charge and a compliance charge. There is no VAT to pay on waste exemptions.
Farmers pay a capped charge for certain exemptions that are often used on farms. See Annex B: Farming exemptions for the list of farming exemptions.
Organisations that work only for a charitable purpose do not have to pay for waste exemptions.
2. Registration charge
You pay £56 registration charge each time you register one or more exemptions on a site. This charge covers the Environment Agency’s costs for registering exemptions.
3. Compliance charge
You pay a compliance charge for each exemption. The cost of the compliance charge depends on which band the exemption is in.
There are 4 bands:
- Upper band – £1,236 (this band applies to T8, T9 and U16 exemptions only)
- Band 1 – £420
- Band 2 – £212
- Band 3 – £30
The compliance charge covers the Environment Agency’s costs for checking that exemption conditions are followed.
Discounts to the compliance charge
There’s a discount if you register more than one exemption in bands upper, 1 and 2.
You pay the full compliance charge for the most expensive exemption, and a discounted charge for every additional exemption in bands upper, 1 and 2.
There is no discount for band 3 exemptions.
Full and discounted charges
| Band | Full charge | Discounted charge |
|---|---|---|
| Upper | £1,236 | £227 |
| 1 | £420 | £76 |
| 2 | £212 | £76 |
| 3 | £30 | No discount |
Go to Annex A: Exemptions and charging bands for the full list of waste exemptions and the bands they are in.
All waste exemptions are exempt from VAT.
4. Farming exemptions
Farmers can register any number of exemptions from a list of exemptions that farmers often use (‘farming exemptions’) for a capped total of £88, plus the £56 registration charge.
If your farming exemptions add up to less than £88, you pay the lower amount.
Farmers can also register exemptions that are not on the list of farming exemptions and pay the standard compliance charge for those exemptions.
Read the guidance on choosing the right waste exemptions for your activity to check if you need any other exemptions.
Go to Annex B: Farming exemptions to see the list of farming exemptions.
5. Paying for exemptions
You can pay for exemptions with a debit or credit card when you register using the waste exemption service. The service will calculate what you owe before you pay anything.
You can also pay by bank transfer. You’ll get an email from the registration service with details of how to pay. Check your spam mailbox if you do not see the email.
Your exemption will be on the public register and valid for 3 years.
You will not need to make another payment until you register again.
There’s a different process for linear network registrations. See section 7.
6. Multiple site registrations
A multiple site registration is one where the same exemptions are registered at 30 or more sites.
For each site you pay:
- full compliance charge for one exemption from the most expensive band
- discounted charge for additional exemptions in bands upper, 1 and 2
- compliance charge of £30 for each band 3 exemption
You pay one £56 registration charge for all sites.
Examples
A multiple site registration of 2 × band 1 exemptions at 50 sites would cost:
- £420 (band 1 compliance charge) × 50 = £21,000
- £76 (discounted band 1 compliance charge) × 50 = £3,800
- £56 registration charge × 1 = £56
The total charge for this registration would be £24,856.
The table shows how the charging scheme applies to a registration of 4 exemptions from bands 1, 2 and 3. It compares the costs for a single-site registration and multiple site registrations of 30 and 125 sites.
| Charge per site | Charge for 30 sites | Charge for 125 sites | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exemption in band 1 | £420 | £12,600 | £52,500 |
| Additional exemption in band 1 | £76 (discounted) | £2,280 | £9,500 |
| Exemption in band 2 | £76 (discounted) | £2,280 | £9,500 |
| Exemption in band 3 | £30 | £900 | £3,750 |
| Registration charge | £56 | £56 | £56 |
| VAT exempt | £0 | £0 | £0 |
| Total charge | £658 | £18,116 | £75,306 |
You can pay by credit or debit card or by bank transfer when you register in the waste exemption service.
Read Registration rules and guidance to find out how to register and pay.
7. Linear networks
Linear network registrations are charged according to the exemptions and number of ‘operational areas’ within the network.
A simple operational area is identified by grid references for 2 location points. The location points are the start and end points where the waste activity takes place.
You pay:
- a compliance charge for each exemption in each operational area
- one registration charge of £56 for all the operational areas
You pay a discounted compliance charge if you register additional exemptions in bands 1 and 2.
Example
The table shows how the charging scheme applies to a linear registration of 3 exemptions from bands 1, 2 and 3 along a simple operational area.
It compares the costs for the same exemptions registered along 3 simple operational areas.
| Charge for 1 operational area | Charge for 3 operational areas | |
|---|---|---|
| U1 exemption (band 1) | £420 | £1,260 |
| D1 exemption (band 2) | £76 (discounted charge) | £228 |
| U12 exemption (band 3) | £30 | £90 |
| Registration charge | £56 | £56 |
| VAT exempt | £0 | £0 |
| Total charge | £582 | £1,634 |
Complex registrations
If your waste activity takes place across a range of operational areas and complex networks, you can upload a map with your online form. The Environment Agency will discuss the registration and charges with you.
You can upload a map to show your waste activity, instead of giving grid references for start and end points.
Paying for a linear registration
You can pay by credit or debit card or by bank transfer.
Go to Register linear network waste exemptions and complete the online form.
The Environment Agency will:
- contact you to discuss payment details
- send your registration number and proof of payment
8. Businesses that register free
To register free exemptions, you must call the Environment Agency to register by phone. You cannot register free online.
Charities
To qualify as a charity to register free exemptions, an organisation must meet the following criteria:
-
it is run for the public benefit
-
it works exclusively for one or more of the 13 recognised charitable purposes
Read Registration rules and guidance for more information.
T28 exemptions
It’s free to register T28: Sorting and denaturing controlled drugs for disposal. You must be authorised under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001.
9. T11 waste exemption: WEEE
T11 waste exemption: repairing or refurbishing waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is not included in the charging bands.
It costs £1,221 to register T11 for 3 years. You can register T11 online.
10. Requesting a refund
You can claim a full refund within 21 days of registering if you make a mistake or change your mind.
You can also request a full or partial refund any time while your registration is active, for any of the following reasons:
- accidental overpayment or a system error (full refund)
- duplicate registration (full refund)
- exemption is superseded by permit, unless it’s a farming exemption (pro rata refund)
- the business doing the activity has closed down (pro rata refund)
- an individual holding the exemption has died (pro rata refund)
Contact the Environment Agency if you need a refund.
11. Contact the Environment Agency
General enquiries
National Customer Contact Centre
PO Box 544
Rotherham
S60 1BY
Email enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk
Telephone 03708 506 506
Telephone from outside the UK (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm GMT) +44 (0) 114 282 5312
Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.
Annex A: Exemptions and charging bands
Annex B: Farming exemptions
Farmers can register some or all of the following exemptions for the £88 capped compliance charge, if they are registered to their farm:
- U1: Using waste in construction
- U4: Burning waste as fuel in a small appliance
- U8: Using waste for a specific purpose
- U10: Spreading waste to benefit agricultural land
- U12: Using mulch
- U13: Spreading plant matter
- U14: Mixing ash back into soil
- U15: Mixing pig and poultry ash with manure
- D1: Depositing waste from dredging inland waters
- D3: Depositing waste from a portable toilet
- D4: Depositing diseased crops under a Plant Health Notice
- D6: Incinerating waste produced on site
- D7: Burning plant and untreated wood waste where it’s produced
- T1: Treating certain waste to reuse or recycle
- T23: Aerobic composting
- T29: Carbon filtering non-hazardous pesticide washings
- T32: Treating waste in a biobed or biofilter