Guidance

Waste exemption charges

Published 1 July 2025

Applies to England

1. Overview

Most businesses have to pay to register their waste exemptions. Charges are made up of a registration charge and a compliance charge.

Charities and anyone registering a T28 exemption do not have to pay for exemptions. Farmers pay a capped charge for certain exemptions commonly used on farms. See Annex B: Farming exemptions for the list of farming 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.

3.1 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.

4. Farming exemptions 

Farmers registering any number of exemptions from a list of exemptions that farmers often use (‘farming exemptions’), pay a capped charge of £88 for them all, plus the £56 registration charge.

If your farming exemptions add up to less than £88, you pay the lower amount.  

Farmers can register exemptions that are not on the list of farming exemptions – they will pay the standard compliance charge for those exemptions.

Farmers may not need any exemptions that are not listed as farming 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. Multiple site and linear network charges 

Currently, there is no charge for multiple site or linear network registrations.

6. 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. 

Once your payment has gone through, your exemption will be registered and viewable on the public register for 3 years.

You will not need to make another payment until it’s time to renew.

7. Businesses that register free  

You do not have to pay for waste exemptions if: 

You cannot register free online – call the Environment Agency to register.

8. 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 cannot register T11 online – you need to use form WEEEX001.

9. 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 at any time during the registration period for any of these 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.

10. 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

Waste exemption Band
S1: Storing waste in secure containers 1
S2: Storing waste at a secure site 1
S3: Storing sludge 2
T1: Treating certain waste to reuse or recycle 2
T2: Recovering textiles 2
T4: Storing and preparing for further treatment 1
T5: Screening and blending waste 1
T6: Treating waste wood and plant matter 1
T8: Mechanically treating end-of-life tyres Upper
T9: Recovering scrap metal Upper
T10: Sorting waste for recycling 1
T12: Manually treating waste 1
T13: Treating waste food 2
T14: Emptying and crushing oil filters from vehicles 2
T15: Treating waste aerosol cans 2
T16: Treating toner and ink cartridges for reuse 2
T17: Crushing waste fluorescent tubes 2
T18: Removing water from clay and paints 3
T19: Treating edible oil and fat to produce biodiesel 2
T20: Treating waste at a water treatment works 3
T21: Recovering waste at waste water treatment works 1
T23: Aerobic composting 2
T24: Anaerobic digestion on farms 1
T25: Anaerobic digestion not done on a farm 1
T26: Using a wormery to compost kitchen waste 3
T28: Sorting and denaturing controlled drugs for disposal No charge
T29: Carbon filtering non-hazardous pesticide washings 3
T30: Recovering silver from photography and printing 2
T31: Recover monopropylene glycol from aircraft antifreeze fluids 2
T32: Treating waste in a biobed or biofilter 3
T33: Recovering central heating oil by filtration 2
U1: Using waste in construction 1
U2: Using end-of-life tyre bales in construction 2
U3: Using waste in creative installations 3
U4: Burning waste as fuel in a small appliance 2
U5: Using biodiesel produced from waste as fuel 2
U6: Using sludge to reseed a waste water treatment 3
U7: Using effluent to clean a highway gravel bed 3
U8: Using waste for a specific purpose 2
U9: Using waste to manufacture finished goods 1
U10: Spreading waste to benefit agricultural land 2
U11: Spreading waste on non-agricultural land 2
U12: Using mulch 3
U13: Spreading plant matter where it was grown, to benefit soil 3
U14: Mixing ash back into soil 3
U15: Mixing pig and poultry ash with manure 2
U16: Using depolluted end-of-life vehicles for parts Upper
D1: Depositing waste from dredging inland waters 2
D2: Depositing waste from train toilets 3
D3: Depositing waste from a portable toilet 3
D4: Depositing diseased crops under a Plant Health 3
D5: Depositing waste samples for testing or analysis 3
D6: Incinerating waste produced on site 2
D7: Burning plant and untreated wood waste at place of production 3
D8: Burning waste at a port under a Plant Health Notice 3

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: