Guidance

Composting and anaerobic digestion of insect manure (frass): RPS 281

Published 1 February 2024

Applies to England

© Crown copyright 2024

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/composting-and-anaerobic-digestion-of-insect-manure-frass-rps-281/composting-and-anaerobic-digestion-of-insect-manure-frass-rps-281

This regulatory position statement (RPS) does not change your legal requirement to comply with an environmental permit or waste exemption when you compost or anaerobically digest insect frass.

However, the Environment Agency will not normally take enforcement action against you if you do not comply with this legal requirement provided that:

  • your activity meets the description set out in this RPS

  • you comply with the conditions set out in this RPS

In addition, your activity must not cause (or be likely to cause) pollution of the environment or harm to human health, and must not:

  • cause a risk to water, air, soil, plants or animals

  • cause a nuisance through noise or odours

  • adversely affect the countryside or places of special interest

1. Activity this RPS applies to

This RPS applies to storing and treating insect frass by aerobic composting or anaerobic digestion where you have either:

2. Conditions you must comply with

You must either:

  • hold an environmental permit that authorises a composting or anaerobic digestion activity

  • have registered a T23 waste exemption

  • have registered a T24 waste exemption

  • have registered a T25 waste exemption

You must:

  • comply with the conditions and limits associated with waste code 02 01 06 in your environmental permit or waste exemption when composting or anaerobically digesting insect frass

  • only use frass from the following insects:

  • Black Soldier Fly (Hermetia illucens) and Common Housefly (Musca domestica)
  • Yellow Mealworm (Tenebrio molitor) and Lesser Mealworm (Alphitobius diaperinus)

  • House cricket (Acheta domesticus), Banded cricket (Gryllodes sigillatus) and Field Cricket (Gryllus assimilis)

  • have approval from the Animal and Plant Health Agency to compost or anaerobically digest insect frass - an exemption for composting approval may be possible if you are a home or small-scale operator using animal material in home, work or community compost heaps

  • keep records for 2 years to show that you have complied with this RPS and make these records available to the Environment Agency on request

3. Things to note

Insect manure (frass) 02 01 06 is an animal by-product (ABP). Although ‘frass’ is not defined in either Assimilated Regulation (EC) 1069/2009 or Assimilated Regulation (EU) 142/2011, it falls under the definition of ‘manure’, a Category 2 ABP, under those regulations.

This RPS relates to an activity that the Environment Agency considers is potentially suitable to be an exemption under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016.

4. When you must check back

The Environment Agency intends to review this RPS by date 1 January 2027.

The Environment Agency can withdraw or amend this regulatory position before the review date if they consider it necessary. This includes where the activity that this RPS relates to has not changed.

You will need to check back from time to time, including at and before the review date, to see if this RPS still applies.

This RPS remains in force until it is removed from GOV.UK or is otherwise identified as having been withdrawn.

5. If you cannot comply with this RPS

If you operate under this RPS but can no longer comply with it, you must stop the activity to which this RPS relates and must tell the Environment Agency immediately – see ‘Contact the Environment Agency’.

6. Contact the Environment Agency

If you have any questions about this RPS email [email protected] and put ‘Composting and anaerobic digestion of insect manure (frass): RPS 281’ in the subject.

General enquiries

National Customer Contact Centre
PO Box 544
Rotherham
S60 1BY

Email [email protected]

Telephone 03708 506 506

Telephone from outside the UK (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm GMT) +44 (0) 114 282 5312

Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.

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