Environmental guidance for your business in Northern Ireland & Scotland
You must not normally bury animal carcasses or parts of animal carcasses on your farm.
You may only bury animal carcasses in very limited circumstances: for emergency disease control or if you are located in areas designated as 'remote areas' in the Animal By-Products Regulations (ABPR).
In Northern Ireland, you may only bury animal carcasses if you have permission from the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA). Burial or burning of fallen stock is permitted in areas designated as ‘remote’. The ‘remote areas’ in Northern Ireland are Rathlin Island and Copeland Islands.
In Scotland, you can only bury animal carcasses:
Most of the Highlands and islands in Scotland are defined as 'remote areas'.
Scottish Government: Map showing 'remote areas' (Adobe PDF - 1.89MB)
If you are authorised to bury carcasses, you must:
Contact your environmental regulator
If you are authorised to bury carcasses and have complied with all conditions required in your authorisation, you will still need to ensure that:
The codes of good agricultural practice provide further information for burying carcasses.
Read more Managing Waste Materials topics on NetRegs
SEE ALSO: Carcass disposal, Carcass incineration, Agriculture guidance
Groundwater in Northern Ireland, DAERA have produced a leaflet to raise awareness about this untapped resource
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