D4: depositing diseased crops under a Plant Health Notice
Source: gov.uk (2025-07-01)

D4 exemption allows you to deposit diseased crops where they were grown, when a Plant Health Notice has been issued, to reduce the risk of spreading plant diseases or pests.

There’s a charge for most waste exemptions

This exemption is in band 3. Read waste exemption charges (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/waste-exemptions-how-to-choose-register-and-pay/waste-exemption-charges) to find out what the charges and charging bands are.

Types of activity you can carry out

This includes:
- disposing of diseased or spoilt crops on your farm if you have been issued with a Plant Health Notice
Types of activity you cannot carry out:

You cannot:
- dispose of spoilt crops that are not the subject of a Plant Health Notice
- import crops from other farms that are also subject to a Plant Health Notice
- allow landscape gardeners and tree surgeons to bring back wood and plant tissue from their jobs and deposit them at your farm
Types of waste you can deposit

The waste codes are those listed in the List of Wastes (LoW) Regulations. You need to make sure your waste fits within the relevant waste code and description.

Amount of waste you can deposit

Where waste is placed in a pile, each pile of waste must be no more than 250 tonnes.

Key conditions

You must not deposit diseased crops:
- within 10 metres of any watercourse, including rivers and streams, or within 50 metres of any spring, well or borehole
- on land that is frozen, covered with snow or waterlogged
- on land that has been frozen for 12 hours or more in the 24 hours before you want to spread it
You cannot place piles of waste immediately next to each other.

These conditions are to reduce the risk of polluting watercourses or groundwater.

The deposit can only take place at the farm where the crops were grown.

Related exemptions

T6: treating waste wood and waste plant matter by chipping, shredding, cutting or pulverizing (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/waste-exemption-t6-treating-waste-wood-and-waste-plant-matter-by-chipping-shredding-cutting-or-pulverising)

T23: aerobic composting and associated prior treatment (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/waste-exemption-t23-aerobic-composting-and-associated-prior-treatment)

T24: anaerobic digestion at premises used for agriculture and burning of resulting biogas (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/waste-exemption-t24-anaerobic-digestion-at-premises-used-for-agriculture-and-burning-resulting-biogas)

T25: anaerobic digestion at premises not used for agriculture and burning of resulting biogas (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/waste-exemption-t25-anaerobic-digestion-at-premises-not-used-for-agriculture-and-burning-resulting-biogas)

U10: spreading waste to benefit agricultural land (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/waste-exemption-u10-spreading-waste-to-benefit-agricultural-land)

U12: using mulch (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/waste-exemption-u12-using-mulch)

U13: spreading plant matter to provide benefits (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/waste-exemption-u13-spreading-plant-matter-to-provide-benefits)

You cannot use these other exemptions if the Plant Health Notice requires that the plant tissue is destroyed.

Register a D4 exemption

You need to register this exemption with us if you meet the requirements:

Register an exemption (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/register-your-waste-exemptions).