Crushing or grinding waste tiles or other ceramics
What you must do
If you are crushing or grinding waste bricks, tiles, concrete with machinery designed for the purpose, then you may need:
in Northern Ireland, a waste management licence, registered exemption or part C pollution prevention and control (PPC) permit
in Scotland, an EASR authorisation
In Northern Ireland, you may also need a permit, licence or exemption if you store waste tiles prior to crushing or grinding on site.
In Northern Ireland, the exemption for crushing and grinding would be a paragraph 24 exemption.
If you have an exemption, you must comply with the exemption conditions.
You will need to register this exemption with the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA).
You must still ensure that your activity does not:
endanger human health or cause pollution to water, air or soil
cause a risk to plants or animals
cause a nuisance in terms of noise, dust, fumes, smoke or odour
adversely affect the countryside or places of special interest.
NIEA: Paragraph 24 - crushing and grinding of waste bricks, tiles or concrete
In Scotland, the type of authorisation you require depends on the scale, complexity and risk of the activity carried out.
The crushing or screening of waste bricks, tiles and concrete is authorised under an EASR General Binding Rule (GBR) if the activity is carried out:
at the place where the waste is produced, or
where the recovered aggregate is to be used
You do not need to notify SEPA if you are carrying out an activity covered by a GBR as long as you comply with its conditions.
If waste bricks, tiles and concrete arising from demolition processes are crushed and/or screened at a third-party site you will need an EASR waste management registration or permit.
Other crushing or grinding activities not covered by the GBR will likely need an EASR registration or permit
SEPA: Construction, restoration, reclamation or land improvement