Environmental permits (PPC)

PPC Environmental Permit Thresholds

This list is not exclusive and there are other industries that will require a permit that is not detailed here. Please contact us to confirm whether your industrial installation requires a permit.

Petrol stations

A permit is required if the throughput of petrol exceeds 500,000 litres in any 12 month period.

Dry cleaners

All dry cleaners are required to have a permit.

Waste mineral oil (garages)

Recent changes to legislation has seen the inclusion of small waste oil burners (SWOBs) under the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED). The IED replaced the Waste Incineration Directive and places stringent operating, monitoring and reporting requirements upon any technical unit, irrespective of its size or capacity, in which waste is incinerated or co-incinerated.

As a result of these changes, operators of simple devices, such as heaters burning waste oil in garages, will no longer be permitted to burn waste oil in such devices unless the operator obtains the necessary permit in accordance with Schedule 13A of the Environmental Permitting Regulations and meets the requirements of the IED for the operation of waste incineration and waste co-incineration plants. The cost of a Schedule 13A permit is currently £3218. 

These changes mean that it is no longer cost effective to operate a SWOB using waste oil, however, non-waste fuels such as kerosene, gas oil or fuel oil can still be used.

Solvents (SED)

• Surface cleaning: 1 tonne in 12 months (if VOC's carcinogenic otherwise 2 tonnes)
• Car vehicle respraying: 1 tonne in 12 months, 0.5 tonne if original vehicle coating.
• Coating of metal and plastic: 5 tonnes in 12 months (if organic solvents)
• Wood coating: 5 tonnes in 12 months.

Timber

• 10 000m3 in 12 months (i.e. sawmills) if wood is sawed, planed, drilled etc.
• OR 1000m3 in any other case (i.e. joinery workshops).

Di-isocyanates

5 tonnes in 12 months OR 1 tonne if toluene di-isocyanate (TDI) is used.

Minerals

Mobile crushers - no threshold, most are permitted but some smaller crushers are exempt if trivial.

Storage of bulk cement - no tonnage/volume threshold (permits required for fixed installations, if mobile cement silo then mobile plant permit required through regional office/home authority).

Surface treatment processes using acid treatment/etching

Industries with these processes may need a permit if the process is likely to release nitrogen oxides.

Foundries

Foundries will require a Part B permit if they meet the following thresholds:

• Non-ferrous: capacity less than 4 tonnes per day if lead or cadmium present, otherwise capacity less than 20 tonnes per day (If more than this will be A1/A2).
• Ferrous: if plant production capacity less than 2.5 tonnes per hour (but depends on holding capacities of furnaces) (otherwise will be A1/A2).

Printing

• Heatset web offset printing: 15 tonnes
• Publications rotagrave: 25 tonnes
• Flexography, rotary screen, laminating, varnishing, other coating: 5-12 tonnes