The Environment Agency is contacting organisations to remind them that the first transitional stage for the new Environmental Permitting scheme is coming to an end. This will concern you if you are a composting organisation operating a soon-to-be defunct Paragraph 12 exemption: you have until the 1st October 2011 to register for a T23 exemption. Do bear in mind, however, that the transition is not as straightforward as it seems as the tonnages mentioned under T23 do not correspond directly to the Para 12 thresholds. The Community Composting Network has put together a comprehensive summary on its website and you can also download the official documentation from the Environment Agency by following the links to the right of this page.

Please note that if you’re growing anything communally, chances are that you will need to apply for an exemption even if composting only represents a small part of your day-to-day activities. LCRN has put together a short leaflet detailing the exemptions that might be relevant to you and the link is also on the right hand side.

For more information, visit the Environment Agency website.

If you have any queries, contact Edouard on 020 7324 4703 or at edouard@lcrn.org.uk.