Checking Where Your Waste Actually Goes: The Environment Agency’s Public Register of Permitted Sites
Every site legally allowed to store, treat or dispose of waste in England is listed on a public register. Here’s how to use it to check where a collector says your waste is going.
In this guide
Anyone can search the Environment Agency’s public register to check whether a site is genuinely permitted to handle the type of waste it’s receiving — a useful step beyond simply checking your collector’s own carrier registration.
What the public register actually is
The Environment Agency publishes information about environmental permits on public registers specifically so that anyone — not just enforcement bodies — can see it. This includes Environmental Permits allowing operators to use, recycle, treat, store or dispose of waste, as well as details of waste operations that are exempt from needing a full permit but are still registered under the exemption system. The register exists as a transparency measure: the facilities licensed to legally handle waste in England are not a secret, and checking them doesn’t require any special access or authority.
What you can actually search for
Through the register, you can look up:
- Environmental Permits held by specific waste operations, including landfill sites, recycling and treatment facilities.
- Waste operations that don’t need a full permit but are registered as exempt, along with the specific limits and conditions attached to that exemption.
- Details by business name, postcode, or licence number, depending on what information you’re starting from.
Why checking the destination matters, not just the collector
Our separate guide to waste carrier licences covers checking that whoever collects your waste is a registered carrier — but registration to transport waste is a different thing from a site’s permit to receive, store or process that waste once it arrives. A carrier can be genuinely registered while the site they ultimately use is unpermitted, operating outside its stated exemption, or handling waste types it isn’t actually licensed for. For anyone with a specific reason to verify a claimed destination — for example, a business auditing its waste contractor’s compliance, or simply wanting to confirm a “recycled” claim is credible — the public register is the primary tool for checking the receiving site’s own legal status, independently of what the collector tells you.
How to actually search it
The register is searchable online, and results can be filtered or searched by postcode, business name or licence number. Details of specific authorisations are retained on the public register for a defined period after they’re granted, so a search reflects current and recent permissions rather than a full historical archive stretching back indefinitely. If you can’t find the detail you need through the online search directly, gov.uk’s guidance confirms you can also ask the Environment Agency to send you a copy of the relevant permit or licence directly.
Permits versus registered exemptions — why the distinction matters
Not every legitimate waste site holds a full Environmental Permit. Certain lower-risk waste activities can instead operate under a registered exemption, which comes with its own specific conditions and limits — for example, capping the volume or type of waste that can be handled without a full permit. A site operating outside the conditions of its registered exemption, or without either a permit or an exemption at all, is operating illegally, regardless of how legitimate it may otherwise appear. This is exactly the kind of detail the public register is designed to let you check directly, rather than relying solely on a collector’s own assurances.
FAQs
Is checking the public register the same as checking a waste carrier’s registration?
No. Carrier registration (covered in our separate guide) confirms who is allowed to transport waste. The public register instead confirms whether the site receiving that waste is permitted or registered to handle it — the two checks cover different stages of the waste’s journey.
Is there a fee to search the register?
No, it’s a free public service, in line with the Environment Agency’s general approach of publishing this information for public transparency rather than restricting access.
Does every waste site need a full Environmental Permit?
No. Lower-risk operations can qualify for a registered exemption instead of a full permit, though these still come with specific conditions and limits that the site must stay within to remain lawful.
Sources
This guide draws on the following primary sources, current as of 16 September 2026:
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