Guidance

Landspreading to improve soil health

How to meet the requirements of using mobile plant for landspreading waste to provide agricultural benefit or ecological improvement.

• From: Environment Agency
• Published: 26 May 2022
• Last updated: 4 May 2023 — See all updates

Applies to England

• Guidance for Wales

You can spread waste to land to improve soil health. This can help reduce the need to use manufactured fertilisers and quarried soil conditioners.

Spreading waste to land must:

• be controlled by an environmental permit, regulatory position statement, low risk waste position or waste exemption
• result in agricultural benefit or ecological improvement
• be waste recovery, not waste disposal

Your activity must not:

• endanger human health
• harm the environment by causing risk to groundwater, surface water, air, soil, plants or animals
• cause nuisance through noise or odours
• adversely affect the countryside or places of special interest

Use this guidance to find out what you must do to meet the requirements.

You are breaking the law if you do not keep to the requirements.

Who this guidance is for

This guidance is mainly for operators with a mobile plant landspreading permit and deployment.

You can also use it if you are a:

• land manager or occupier
• farmer on whose land the waste is stored and spread
• landspreading agricultural contractor

Or you are operating under, or plan to, a:

• regulatory position statement
• low risk waste position
• registered waste exemption

Check if you need a permit

For some lower risk activities you do not need to apply for a permit. For example, if you can meet the requirements of a:

• low risk waste position
• relevant waste exemption

The following waste exemptions relate to landspreading:

• U10 spreading waste to benefit agricultural land
• U11 spreading waste on non-agricultural land
• S3 storing sludge
• D1 depositing waste from dredging inland waters
• U12 using mulch
• U13 spreading plant matter to provide benefits
• U14 incorporating ash into soil
• U15 pig and poultry ash

See the guide How to register or renew waste exemptions for the requirements.

Apply for a permit

You can apply for:

• SR2010 No 4: mobile plant for landspreading
• SR2010 No 5: mobile plant for reclamation, restoration or improvement of land
• SR2010 No 6: mobile plant for landspreading of sewage sludge
• a bespoke mobile plant permit for landspreading or land reclamation

For how to apply see:

• Apply for a standard rules environmental permit
• Waste: environmental permits to apply for a bespoke permit

Before you apply

To prepare your application you can use Landspreading: how to comply with your permit which provides:

• information on the standard rules in the permit
• the minimum standards operators must meet to show they are complying with their permit

The Environment Agency also expect you to follow it if you hold a:

• standard rules permit for landspreading
• bespoke mobile plant permit for landspreading – these permits have the same or similar conditions that you must comply with

Find out:

• how to get advice before you apply for an environmental permit.
• the application fee in table 1.15 in tables of charges

Apply to deploy mobile plant

If you hold a mobile plant permit for landspreading you must apply for a deployment before you store or spread waste to land. You must use form LPD1 application for deployment (LPD1). With your application you must provide:

• a benefit statement
• a location map
• the full analytical results for the waste and receiving soil

Landspreading: apply to deploy mobile plant provides the forms and guidance you need to make sure you give the correct information.

Your benefit statement must provide evidence that your landspreading activities:

• are a waste recovery activity
• will result in agricultural benefit or ecological improvement

Supporting guidance

To prepare your deployment application you can use the following information.

Landspreading: benefits and risks of the waste types you can use provides:

• information about the waste types listed in the 3 mobile plant standard rules permits
• potential benefits and risks of each waste type and any operational activities to consider
• references to other guidance and important information you need to be aware of

Landspreading: how to manage soil health provides information on how to manage:

• the water content of the soil
• the pH of the soil
• the carbon to nitrogen ratio of the soil
• soil and crop nutrients
• contaminants
• pests and diseases
• salty whey and other high conductivity waste
• organic manures
• oil and fat trap waste

This guidance also explains when you can level the land under a landspreading permit.

Appropriate technical expertise

Where indicated you will need to use a person with appropriate technical expertise. For example, a Fertiliser advisers certification and training scheme (FACTS) qualified adviser.

After you apply to deploy mobile plant

The Environment Agency will:

• check you have given the correct information
• check you have paid the correct fee – see table 2.15 in the tables of charges
• acknowledge the application as complete
• assess the deployment application
• ask for more information if it is not accurate or detailed enough – this may cause delays

Allow at least 25 working days from the time your application has been acknowledged for the Environment Agency to do their assessment.

You must not start any activities until you have received written agreement (an email decision notice) from the Environment Agency.

Your agreed deployment starts from the date of the written agreement. It ends 12 months later.

You must tell your local Environment Agency office before you start landspreading. You must do this at least 48 hours (but no more than 7 days) before the date you start. If your spreading activities have to stop for more than 7 days, you must tell the Environment Agency when you will restart spreading.

You cannot renew deployments. If you need to continue waste operations after 12 months, you must apply for a new deployment.

Comply with your permit and deployment

Your activities must meet the requirements of your permit and your agreed LPD1.

You must not make any changes to your deployment without the Environment Agency’s agreement.

If you are concerned about not being able to comply, you must contact your local Environment Agency office.

Deposit for recovery

There is different guidance for operators who are planning to:

• carry out a new deposit for recovery operation
• make changes to an existing deposit for recovery operation

See Deposit for recovery operators: environmental permits.

If you cannot meet the requirements for a mobile plant landspreading permit, you can apply for a standard rules or bespoke deposit for recovery permit.

Published 26 May 2022
Last updated 4 May 2023 + show all updates

1. 4 May 2023

   Minor updates based on user feedback. Main changes: Added links to ‘Get advice before you apply for an environmental permit’ and the ‘Table of charges’; Moved the ‘After you apply to deploy mobile plant’ text from the LPD1 form guidance to this guide.

2. 26 May 2022

   First published.