Asphalt and road planings used in construction

What you must do

Storing, treating and reusing planings

If you dispose of asphalt planings or other materials from your works, you must comply with your duty of care responsibilities.

Duty of care - your waste responsibilities

To store, treat, and use road planings and excavated sub-base, you will need authorisation from your environmental regulator.

In Northern Ireland, If what you need is an exemption, it will be a paragraph 19 exemption.

If you have an exemption, you must comply with the exemption conditions.

You must register this exemption with the NIEA.

You must still ensure that your activity does not:

endanger human health or cause pollution to water, air or soil
constitute a risk to plants or animals
cause a nuisance in terms of noise and odour
adversely affect the countryside or places of special interest

Waste management licensing in Northern Ireland

NIEA: Paragraph 19 exemption – Use of waste for construction

In Scotland, treating asphalt road planings in a milling machine is considered a Low Risk Waste Activity and does not require authorisation, provided that the treatment occurs at the place the waste asphalt was produced.

See SEPA low risk waste activity guidance

Prevent pollution

Asphalt planings can contain a high level of contaminants. These contaminants can be picked up by rainwater passing through a stockpile or can seep out into the ground.

You must prevent contaminants from planings leaching into the ground or into watercourses. Planings should be covered and stored on an impermeable surface. Rainwater that runs through the planings can pick up contaminants and transport them into the groundwater or nearby watercourses. Water run-off should be collected and tested for contamination before you decide how it should be disposed of.

Plan your site so that you can safely store planings for use as part of your works.