EA permitting

Aside from plants which only use purpose grown crops as a feedstock, to operate an AD plant you must either obtain an environmental permit or waste management license from the relevant environmental regulator (as shown below) or register an exemption if applicable to your operation. The purpose of this is to ensure that AD facilities do not harm the environment or human health. At this page, we provide an overview of the regulatory provisions in place in the UK and links to further information that you will need in order to ensure that your plant has the necessary permit or exemption in place. We also recommend that you view our Best Practice Checklists which provide useful information compiled by ADBA, working closely with industry experts and the regulators, as these identify key considerations for your project to help you achieve best practice in risk management, procurement and operational performance.

It is essential that you discuss your AD project with the environmental regulator as early as possible - see the table below to find out which is relevant to you.

Location of plant Environmental Regulator Website
England Environment Agency Click here
Wales Natural Resources Wales Click here
Scotland Scottish Environment Protection Agency Click here
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland Environment Agency Click here

Exemptions

Exemptions cover very low risk small scale operations:

T24: On-farm AD

  • Treatment of manures, slurries and plant tissues at premises used for agriculture
  • Waste must remain in AD plant for minimum of 28 days
  • Biogas burner must have net rated thermal input of less than 400kW
  • 1,250 cubic metres of waste can be stored or treated at any one time (this limit doesn’t include on-farm manure and slurry pits used to store waste prior to treatment)

T25: Non-agricultural AD

  • Treatment of manures, plant tissue, animal tissue and food waste at premises not used for agriculture
  • Waste must remain in AD plant for minimum of 28 days
  • Biogas burner must have net rated thermal input of less than 400kW
  • 50 cubic metres of waste can be stored or treated at any one time

Exemptions for digestate spreading

There are two exemptions available for the spreading of digestate:

Standard permits

With standard permits the EA has already assessed the risks for a defined operation and published the rules (conditions) under which they have to operate.

To view the list of standard rules permits available in England, click here.

Bespoke permits

If your plant cannot comply with any of the standard rules, or meet any one of the risk criteria, then you must apply for a bespoke permit. This permit will be more expensive, and your application must include additional information about the criteria that you cannot meet and how you intend to control the associated risks.

For more information visit the website of the relevant regulator.