Waste exemptions for wood and wood products
You may need to register an exemption with your environmental regulator from waste management licensing if you carry out an exempt waste management activity
Some exemptions do not need to be registered although you must comply with the exemption's conditions.
Activities exempt from waste management licensing
Some waste management activities involving the use of waste wood from processing non-virgin timbers are exempt.
Exempt waste management activities which may be relevant to your business include:
| Exemption reference | ||
|---|---|---|
| Exempt waste activity or operation | Northern Ireland | Scotland |
| Composting untreated waste wood. | Paragraph 13 Must be registered. |
Paragraph 12 Must be registered. |
| Using untreated waste wood as mulch. | Paragraph 9 Must be registered. |
No exemption needed. |
| Spreading waste wood for benefit on the site where it is produced. For example to suppress weeds or provide nutrients to the soil. | Paragraph 9 Must be registered. |
No exemption needed. |
| Burning some waste wood or bark as a fuel in a small appliance in certain cases. | Paragraph 5 Must be registered. |
Paragraph 5 Must be registered. |
| Using waste for a specific purpose, for example wood shavings, woodchip and sawdust as animal bedding. | Paragraph 16 Must be registered. |
Paragraph 15 Must be registered. |
| Using waste wood or bark to make products. | Paragraph 15 Must be registered. |
Paragraph 14 Must be registered. |
| Chipping, shredding, cutting or pulverising waste wood or bark. | Paragraph 21 Must be registered. |
Paragraph 21 Must be registered. |
| Burning untreated wood waste in the open. | Paragraph 30 Must be registered. |
Paragraph 30 Must be registered. |
| Storing any waste (non-hazardous or hazardous/special) temporarily on the site where it is produced in a secure place for no longer than 12 months. | Paragraph 41 There are quantity limits for storing hazardous waste. No need to register. |
Paragraph 41 There are quantity limits for storing special waste. No need to register. |
| Burning as a fuel, under a permit granted under the PPC regulations, of straw, poultry litter or wood (at less than 1 tonne per hour in Northern Ireland) (eg biomass boilers) | Paragraph 5 | Paragraph 3 |
You must check whether your registered exemption needs to be renewed. Some registered exemptions last for as long as the activity is carried out while others may only last for 12 months.
If you are not sure whether your waste operation or waste management activity is covered by an exemption contact your environmental regulator for further advice.
Contact your environmental regulator
Position statements
Wood waste regulatory position statement
The Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) has produced guidance on when they consider wood to be a waste and what regulatory controls should be followed.
NIEA: Environmental regulation of wood position statement
Wood produced from processing virgin timbers, such as off-cuts and sawdust from sawmilling or wood product manufacturing, are not considered to be waste if they are used for common purposes including:
- woodchip in gardens or on pathways
- a raw material for composting
- animal bedding
- fuel in an appliance
- a raw material for the production of wood-based products or in paper production
- If you mix virgin timber, including any materials produced from processing it, with other waste wood or any other waste, the mixed load will be waste and certain waste responsibilities will apply.
Good practice
Separate wood waste and wood-based materials into virgin wood and waste wood at the point of production. This will help you to reduce regulatory controls that apply to mixed loads.
Contact the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) who can give you more information on local businesses or organisations that can use wood-based materials in a manufacturing or recycling process.
WRAP: PAS 111 Processing waste wood
Materials produced from virgin timber processing could be burned to produce energy. Depending on its previous use and contaminant content, waste wood could also be burned as a fuel.
You should check whether you need a permit or licence or need to register an exemption to burn wood as fuel.
Energy and steam generation
Find a wood recycler near your site from the Wood Recyclers Association.
Further information on waste exemptions
NIEA: Activities exempt from waste management licensing
SEPA: Activities exempt from waste management licensing