D6: incinerating waste produced on site
Source: gov.uk (2025-07-01)

D6 exemption allows you to dispose of small amounts of specific waste that have been produced on site in an incinerator.

There’s a charge for most waste exemptions

This exemption is in band 2. 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:
- a joinery firm produces off-cuts of clean, untreated wood waste which it burns in a purpose-built incinerator with a design capacity of less than 50 kilograms per hour
Types of activity you cannot carry out

You cannot:
- incinerate someone else’s waste or take your waste to another place for burning
- burn other types of waste than those listed below
- burn treated wood waste, for example treated pallets, painted wooden door frames
- use this exemption to burn waste as a fuel for producing heat or power, see related exemptions
- use this exemption to burn waste in the open, see related exemptions
Types of waste you can burn

To meet this exemption, the wastes have to be specifically excluded from the Industrial Emissions Directive. The relevant excluded wastes are:
- vegetable waste from agriculture and forestry
- wood waste (except wood waste treated with preservatives or coatings)
- cork waste
- animal carcasses
Waste streams that you can burn under this exemption include:

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.

Quantity of waste you can burn

You can burn waste in an incinerator that has a capacity of less than 50 kilograms per hour and a net rated thermal input of less than 0.4 megawatt (MW).

You can store up to 5 tonnes of waste at any one time before burning.

Key conditions

If there is more than one appliance, the total net rated thermal input must be less than 0.4MW (for example, 4 × 0.1MW appliances).

Only the person who produced the waste can burn the waste in an incinerator.

What else you need to know

Animal by-products

If you will be incinerating animal carcasses only, you do not have to register this exemption. Instead, you will need an approval from Defra’s Animal Health section, which deals with the Animal By-Product Regulations.

If you are incinerating animal carcasses along with other wastes allowed here, you will need to register this exemption as well as obtaining the relevant approval from Animal Health.

Related exemptions

You can burn waste in a boiler to produce heat and power under exemption U4: burning waste as fuel in a small appliance (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/waste-exemption-u4-burning-of-waste-as-a-fuel-in-a-small-appliance).

You can chip untreated waste wood from joinery under exemption 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).

Then use the wood chip for animal bedding under exemption U8: using waste for a specified purpose (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/waste-exemption-u8-using-waste-for-a-specified-purpose).

You can compost plant tissue under exemption T23: aerobic composting and associated prior treatment (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/waste-exemption-t23-aerobic-composting-and-associated-prior-treatment).

You can burn untreated wood waste, for example hedge cuttings, in the open where it was produced under exemption D7: burning waste in the open (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/waste-exemption-d7-burning-waste-in-the-open).

Related permits

You will need an environmental permit if:
- your appliance or group of appliances has/have a net thermal rated input of more than 0.4MW
- you wish to burn more than 50kg of waste over any period of one hour
- you want to burn any other types of waste not listed in this exemption
Register a D6 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).