Waste carriers licence in England for businesses and trades
A waste carriers licence in England is an Environment Agency registration. Lower tier is free. Upper tier costs £191.02 and lasts 3 years in England.
Waste carriers licence in England
In England, a waste carriers licence is an Environment Agency registration for businesses that transport, trade or arrange waste disposal. Unless an exception applies, you must register before doing this work. Lower tier registration is free and does not need renewing. Upper tier costs £191.02, lasts 3 years and renews for £130.25 (GOV.UK).
Do I need a waste carriers licence?
You must register if your business transports waste (a carrier), buys, sells or disposes of waste (a dealer), or arranges for someone else to buy, sell or dispose of it (a broker) (GOV.UK). If you should register and don't, you can get an unlimited fine (GOV.UK).
Register with the Environment Agency if your registered office or main place of business is in England (2011 Regulations). A waste management licence, or environmental permit, is a different permission for sites that store or treat waste.
Some people don't need to register at all. The Natural Resources Wales fact sheet, based on the same regulations, lists them (NRW fact sheet):
- householders carrying waste from their own home that a business did not produce
- anyone moving waste only within the same premises
- carriers moving waste only by air or sea into or out of Great Britain, up to its first point of arrival
- people who don't carry waste as part of a business
- a business that would be lower tier but doesn't "normally and regularly" carry waste, for example one that always uses a contractor or took waste away once
Lower tier vs upper tier
Your tier depends on who you are and what waste you handle. Quantity doesn't come into it. The NRW fact sheet says upper tier applies "even if you only transport or deal in very small amounts of waste" (NRW fact sheet).
Lower tier covers charities and voluntary organisations, waste authorities and businesses carrying only their own non-construction waste. It also covers those dealing only in animal by-products, mine or quarry waste, or waste from agricultural premises (2011 Regulations).
Unless a lower tier category applies, carrying other people's waste, brokering or dealing requires upper tier registration. For trades carrying their own waste, construction or demolition waste requires upper tier registration. The NRW fact sheet gives these trade examples:
| Lower tier | Upper tier |
|---|---|
| Carpet fitter taking away old carpet | Plumber removing a bath |
| Tyre fitter | Gardener carrying away a wall they knocked down |
| Mobile mechanic taking away their own waste | House clearance |
| Gardener carrying green waste | Letting agent arranging waste removal |
Baths, sinks, doors, fences, rubble, pipework, plasterboard and radiators count as construction or demolition waste. Even one bath from a refit puts a plumber in the upper tier (NRW fact sheet).
How much is a waste carriers licence?
Lower tier is free. GOV.UK says registration "is usually free if you only transport waste you produce yourself" (GOV.UK). Upper tier fees in England, from the Environment Agency charging scheme (last updated 19 May 2026):
| Action | Fee |
|---|---|
| New upper tier registration | £191.02 |
| Renewal | £130.25 |
| Changing or adding a registration type, such as adding broker | £49.62 |
These fees include the 1 April 2026 CPI increase. From 1 April 2027 the same scheme raises charges each year by no more than CPI (charging scheme updates).
You can't upgrade from lower to upper tier. That move, or a change of legal business type, needs a new registration at £191.02. Contact the Environment Agency within 28 days if contact details, management, activities or an environmental conviction change (GOV.UK).
How to apply for a waste carriers licence
Register online through the GOV.UK service. If waste is your main business, have these ready:
- names and dates of birth of executives, owners, directors, or partners
- details of any environmental offences they have committed
- a payment method
The Environment Agency helpline is 03708 506 506, or email nccc-carrierbroker@environment-agency.gov.uk. Third-party websites offering to register you aren't linked to the Environment Agency, and may charge extra (Environment Agency blog).
How to renew a waste carriers licence
Upper tier registration lasts 3 years. Lower tier never needs renewing (GOV.UK). Your expiry date is on your entry in the public register. The online service only renews registrations that are "currently active and are due to expire within the next 3 months" (EA service).
The public register of waste carriers
Search the Environment Agency's public register by business name, registration number, address, postcode or tier. England numbers on that register start CBDU. Before you transfer waste, use the register to check the other party has the correct authorisation (duty of care code). If you hire a carrier, search the same public register to confirm their registration.
Permits replace registration from 22 July 2027
The Environmental Permitting (Waste Controlling or Transporting) and Relevant Functions of Primary Authorities (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2026 were made on 22 July 2026, and end the registration system in England on 22 July 2027 (SI 2026/873). Registrations will become standard rules environmental permits or registered exemptions. The three permit types are controller (arranges what happens to the waste), transporter (only moves it), and controller-transporter.
Permits renew every 3 years, and registered exemptions must be re-registered every 3 years. Technical competence is required for permits (GOV.UK policy paper). The switch depends on your tier (SI 2026/873):
- Upper tier holders must meet the new requirements from the day after their registration's scheduled expiry.
- Lower tier holders get 12 months from 22 July 2027 to get a permit or register an exemption.
- Businesses that never had to register, such as those not carrying waste "normally and regularly", must comply from day one if the new rules catch them.
Businesses carrying their own non-construction waste below a set volume will register an exemption (consultation outcome). The Environment Agency hasn't set those volumes or the permit fees yet.
Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
Register with the regulator where your business is based. In Wales that's Natural Resources Wales: upper tier costs £184 to register and £126 to renew, lasts 3 years, and NRW sends a letter or email 6 weeks before expiry (NRW). Scotland's SEPA authorises waste carrying under EASR: EASR-SC-035 for waste someone else produced, and EASR-SC-034 for your own waste only (SEPA).
In Northern Ireland, NIEA charges £180 for a new upper tier registration and £90 to renew, and lower tier is free (DAERA).
You can see how RegAffairs AI answers "do I need a waste carriers licence?", with each point linked to its official source.