Chipping wood & other plant material
What you must do
Carrying out waste disposal activities on your site may need a:
- pollution prevention and control (PPC) permit, waste management licence, or registered exemption in Northern Ireland
- an EASR authorisation, in Scotland
In Northern Ireland, you may qualify for a paragraph 21 exemption to chip, shred, cut or pulverise waste plant material if:
- the material is to be recovered or reused
- the quantity does not exceed 1,000 tonnes over any period of seven days.
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, dust, fumes, smoke and odour
- adversely affect the countryside or places of special interest.
DAERA: Paragraph 21 - Chipping, shredding, cutting or pulverising plant matter
Waste management licences in Northern Ireland
If you are shredding waste plant material in several locations on an extended site, for example a motorway embankment, you can register a single exemption for the work.
In Scotland, the cutting, chipping, and shredding waste plant matter and using the mulch is considered a low risk waste activity, and does not need an authorisation from SEPA, if it is treated at the place where it is produced.
SEPA: Low risk waste activities