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Waste Disposal: Environment Protection

Question for Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

UIN 9831, tabled on 26 May 2022

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the average length of time was for the Environment Agency to process a waste installation permit application from point of first application to final determination for the 2021-22 financial year; and what proportion of those applications took longer than six months to process.

Answered on

6 June 2022

The Environment Agency (EA) determined 28 new waste installation permits for the financial year 2021-22. Waste installation permits are required for activities such as incineration and co-incineration of waste, landfills, other forms of disposal of waste, recovery of waste, temporary or underground storage of hazardous waste and treatment of wastewater.

The average period from the point the EA received a permit application to when a permit was issued was 378 days. Of the 28 applications determined - 89% took over 6 months (180 days).

These are some of the most complex and highest risk activities the EA regulates. These activities have the potential to cause significant harm to the environment and communities if not appropriately assessed and managed.

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