The Environmental Permitting (Waste Controlling or Transporting) and Relevant Functions of Primary Authorities (Amendment) (England) Regulations 2026 were made on 22 July 2026, signed by Defra minister Mary Creagh, and approved by both Houses under the affirmative procedure after consultation with the Environment Agency and affected sectors. The legislation.gov.uk text sets a two-stage commencement. Regulations 2 and 27 to 31 come into force on 12 August 2026, while the main permitting provisions take effect from 22 July 2027. Although the instrument extends to England and Wales, its main regulatory change is directed at England. In practical terms, Defra is moving much of the older carrier, broker and dealer regime out of its standalone registration model and into the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016. That is a material legal shift, because these activities now sit inside the wider permitting system used for other regulated waste functions.
The main legal innovation is the creation of three new categories: waste controlling activity, waste transporting activity and waste controlling-transporting activity. New Schedule 25D to the 2016 Regulations defines waste controlling activity broadly. It includes buying and selling waste, arranging its collection, transport, recovery or disposal, deciding its destination, arranging temporary storage before recovery or disposal, and arranging assessment and classification of waste. The drafting is wider than a conventional transport rule. A business can fall within the definition even if it never takes physical possession of the waste. That means the new regime is designed to catch the commercial and administrative management of waste flows as well as the physical movement itself. Brokers, dealers and logistics organisers are therefore brought much more clearly within the same legal structure as carriers.
From the main commencement date, those activities become regulated facilities under the 2016 permitting regime. An operator carrying them on in England will generally need either an environmental permit or a registered exemption. The legislation identifies several connections to England that bring an operator into scope, including having a registered office or principal place of business in England, operating from another place of business in England, importing waste where the movement ends in England, or exporting waste where the movement starts in England. The permit model is stricter than the legacy registration approach. An operator may not hold more than one permit for waste controlling or transporting activity. A permit lasts for three years, cannot be transferred to another person, and must be renewed. If the operator applies to renew at least three months before expiry, the permit continues until the application is decided. The structure points to a more active licensing model, rather than a simple entry on a register.
The Regulations do not require a permit in every case. They also create a new category of exempt waste controlling or transporting activity, with conditions inserted into Schedule 2 and a new Part 6 of Schedule 3. The exempt descriptions are narrow and specific. They cover, among other things, waste produced in the operator’s own business, certain free-to-use charity services, extractive waste, animal by-products, returnable items under the drinks deposit scheme, illegally deposited waste removed from privately owned land, and certain sludge or septic tank sludge movements. Those exemptions are tightly controlled. In most cases the waste must be taken to an appropriately authorised facility. Imported or exported waste cannot use the exemption route. Operators must act consistently with the Article 13 objectives in the Waste Framework Directive and, where they control waste, take reasonable measures to apply the waste hierarchy. The drafting also excludes higher-risk material from most exempt cases, including asbestos, polychlorinated biphenyls and, subject to limited exceptions, waste arising from construction or demolition.
The compliance detail is more exacting than some businesses may expect from a transport-focused regime. For exempt activity, the driver must carry the registration number for the relevant exempt activity together with a unique driver number allocated by the operator. For permitted transport or combined control-and-transport activity, Schedule 25D requires the driver to carry the permit number and a unique driver number. Operators must keep records of those driver numbers, and any advertising used in relation to exempt activity must display the registration number. The Regulations also spell out what is outside scope. Domestic occupiers dealing with their own household waste are excluded. So are certain activities at the place waste is produced, some statutory duty functions where they are not carried on commercially, some voluntary collection schemes, unpaid litter movements, limited testing samples, some retailer take-back arrangements, and some waste handling within multi-producer premises operating under a collective waste management agreement. The overall effect is to bring commercial waste organisation into formal regulation while leaving a limited set of lower-risk activities outside it.
Enforcement powers are widened to match the new permitting structure. The Environmental Protection Act 1990 duty of care is amended so that operators carrying on waste controlling or transporting activity, including exempt activity, are expressly placed within the statutory chain of responsibility. The legislation also extends search and seizure powers over vehicles. Regulation 32 of the 2016 regime is amended so that functions in relation to these activities are exercisable by the Environment Agency, and Schedule 2 now requires appropriate periodic inspections of exempt operators. There are also administrative changes with practical consequences. If the Agency serves a suspension notice, the operator must remove references to the permit from vehicles and remove the permit number from advertising as soon as reasonably practicable. The charging power in the Environment Act 1995 is widened so regulatory costs can be recovered. The instrument also updates Schedule 3 to the Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008 by adding relevant Environment Act 2021 provisions as they apply in England, bringing these functions into the primary authority system. At the same time, Schedule 5 is amended so public participation is not required for the grant or variation of permits for these activities.
A large part of the practical significance lies in the transition rules. The Control of Pollution (Amendment) Act 1989 ceases to have effect in England for this field, and Part 8 of the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 also ceases to apply in relation to England. Wales remains on the older registration route. For firms operating across the border, that means the legal position may now differ according to where the business is established and where a waste movement begins or ends. Existing registrations are preserved for a time rather than ending immediately. Some currently registered carriers, brokers and dealers will not need a new permit or exemption registration until the day after their present registration would otherwise have expired. Certain specified persons receive up to a further 12 months from the commencement of Part 2. Others who were previously outside the registration requirement but are brought within the new regime must be ready from 22 July 2027. The instrument also prevents multiple overlapping registrations in England by providing that, where more than one exists, only the earliest remains valid and later registrations are void.
For operators, the compliance question is now broader than whether the business has historically been treated as a carrier, broker or dealer. The relevant test is whether the business controls waste, transports it, or does both within the meaning of Schedule 25D, and whether any exemption genuinely fits the activity being carried out. Businesses that buy, sell, arrange, classify or move waste will need to review their operating model well before 22 July 2027, with the earlier transition provisions already starting on 12 August 2026. For policy professionals and the regulated sector, the direction of travel is clear. Defra has replaced a fragmented registration structure with a permit and exemption regime tied more closely to the waste hierarchy, the duty of care and Environment Agency enforcement powers. The Explanatory Note published with the instrument states that a full impact assessment has been prepared. The policy test now is whether this tighter system improves traceability and accountability in waste movements without placing unnecessary burdens on lower-risk operators such as charities, farmers, landowners clearing fly-tipped waste and businesses moving their own waste.