The burning of waste on land in the open - paragraph 30 exemption

A paragraph 30 exemption allows the burning of plant tissue (see note 1 in interpretation paragraph) waste on land in the open and the storage of this waste on land where it is to be burned pending it’s burning.

Waste stream(s) permitted

Plant tissue

Quantity

The total quantity of waste burned in any period of 24 hours must not exceed 10 tonnes.

Storage and location

Storage must be on the land where the waste is intended to be burned.

Additional conditions

  • waste must be burned on the land where it is produced
  • the waste must be produced on land which is operational land (see note 2 in interpretation paragraph) of a railway, light railway, tramway, or any Government Department; or which is a forest; woodland, park, garden, verge, landscaped area, sports ground, recreation ground, bank of an inland waterway, churchyard or cemetery or on other land as a result of demolition work
  • waste must only be burned by an establishment or undertaking where it is the establishment or undertaking’s own waste

Interpretation

  1. 'Plant tissue' means tissue from a plant and includes any linseed residues, oil-seed rape residues, field beans harvested dry residues, peas harvested dry residues, cereal straw or cereal stubble.
    • 'Plant' has the same meaning as in Article 2 of the Plant Health Order (Northern Ireland) 2006 and means a living plant (including a fungus, tree or shrub), or a living part of a plant (including a living part of a fungus, tree or shrub), at any stage of growth; and living parts of a plant shall include: fruit or seed, vegetables, other than those preserved by deep freezing, tubers, corms, bulbs or rhizomes, cut flowers, branches with or without foliage, a plant, tree or shrub that has been cut and which retains any foliage, leaves or foliage, a plant, tree or shrub in tissue culture, live pollen, and bud wood, cuttings or scions (a detached shoot or twig containing buds from a woody plant, used in grafting).
    • Plant Health Order (Northern Ireland) 2006
  2. 'Operational Land' has the meaning given by Article 2 of the Planning (General Development) Order (Northern Ireland) 1993.

What the legislation says

The full wording of the paragraph 30 exemption can be found in Schedule 2 of the Waste Management Licensing Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2003.

Relevant Objectives in relation to the disposal or recovery of waste are given in paragraph 4 of Schedule 3 to the Regulations.

Should you have any queries in relation to your application please contact:-

Forms and guidance

Related articles

Back to top