Trade bodies unite to challenge small waste oil burner reg changes

IGA and GEA to raise concerns over new SWOB regulations which are due to come into force from April

Trade bodies unite to challenge small waste oil burner reg changes
The IGA says additional charges will further increase costs for SWOB users.

Changes to the way in which garages are permitted to use small waste oil burners (SWOBs) are due to be challenged by the Independent Garage Association (IGA) and the Garage Equipment Association (GEA) in a meeting with Rory Stewart, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Environment and Rural Affairs next month.

The new legislation removes the exemption from the Waste Incineration Directive for Small Waste Oil Burners, and will require garages to hold a new permit which carries a £3218 application and annual fees of £1,384.

The IGA has warned that there will be additional charges that will further increase costs to cover additional monitoring requirements.

Fall in oil prices

The IGA’s director, Stuart James, and the GEA’s chief executive, Dave Garratt, say the impact analysis which was carried out did not reflect the current economic model of waste oil collection given the recent dramatic falls in the value of oil.

Stuart James said: “The revisions to guidance will make it uneconomical to use a SWOB for the purpose it was intended as it significantly increases the costs for small garages.

“This will inevitably be passed on to consumers through higher labour rates.”

Dave added that it’s inappropriate to treat a 0.05Mw SWOB in the same way as a 50Mw industrial process.

He said: “The revised guidance takes no account of the high levels of technology in modern SWOBs which make it far better for the environment to burn waste oil on site than to store and transport it by road to an industrial incinerator.”

Optimism

The news will provide a sense of optimism for independents who have been left angered by what seems to be a counter-productive tax bill.

GW reader, Anne Clark wrote: “Our business cannot support a £3000 bill to turnout waste oil, nor can we support an additional electricity bill which also pollutes the air.

“The cost of transporting new oil to us on a tanker and the pollution of a tanker taking away they waste oil and disposing of it, where is the logic?”

Another reader, Trevor Rose of Motorvation-Ltd said: “I am sure our customers will be totally understanding on why labour rates would have to increase to cover the extra costs.”

Will you continue to use your SWOB, if so what fuel will you be using? Or will the permit fees force you to look for alternative ways to stay warm? Leave your comments and any concerns below.

46 Comments

  1. Cheaper to buy heating oil or diesel!!! #worldgonemad

    Reply
    • You’ve hit the nail on the head! The new legislation will make it uneconomical to run a SWOB on waste oil. Will you be buying heating oil/diesel then Richard?

      Reply
  2. Cheaper to buy heating oil or diesel!!! #worldgonemad

    Reply
    • You’ve hit the nail on the head! The new legislation will make it uneconomical to run a SWOB on waste oil. Will you be buying heating oil/diesel then Richard?

      Reply
  3. This is typical government red tape, no thought has gone into this ludricous decision.
    Is this yet another directive from Brussels ?

    Reply
  4. This is typical government red tape, no thought has gone into this ludricous decision.
    Is this yet another directive from Brussels ?

    Reply
  5. Why have they made the fees so cost prohibitive ?

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  6. Why have they made the fees so cost prohibitive ?

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  7. We will have to stop using the SWOB altogether as we will not be able to cover the cost of paying for diesel or new oil. This will make it very difficult for us and could affect our health in the long term. We have just finished paying for our SWOB and to be told we cant use it anymore is a big blow. We feel we were misled into purchasing it and didn’t realise the cost of running it would become soo high.

    Reply
    • And people are still being misled into buying them.

      Reply
  8. We will have to stop using the SWOB altogether as we will not be able to cover the cost of paying for diesel or new oil. This will make it very difficult for us and could affect our health in the long term. We have just finished paying for our SWOB and to be told we cant use it anymore is a big blow. We feel we were misled into purchasing it and didn’t realise the cost of running it would become soo high.

    Reply
    • And people are still being misled into buying them.

      Reply
  9. Raving mad, Raving mad. What idiot sat in an office, nice and warm thought this one up? We as garage owners are collecting waste oil not only from are servicing but from people that don’t have anywhere other than pouring it in a hole in the ground to dispose of it and there must be many people like that in this country. Then we dispose of it by burning it, the only thing we gain from it is to heat the large space called a work shop. That is going to cost a fortune in heating oil. Then we have to pay to get rid of the waste. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see what is going to happen to a lot of it, something has to be done. These idiot’s can’t be allowed to get away with this.

    Mel

    Reply
    • Absolutely agree-lunacy !!

      Reply
      • i would like to cameron and a couple of his mates come down here and roll his sleeves up and do a week in the workshop with no heating
        that would wipe the smerk of his face and the bureaucrats that thought this one up
        god this has got my goat

        Reply
  10. Raving mad, Raving mad. What idiot sat in an office, nice and warm thought this one up? We as garage owners are collecting waste oil not only from are servicing but from people that don’t have anywhere other than pouring it in a hole in the ground to dispose of it and there must be many people like that in this country. Then we dispose of it by burning it, the only thing we gain from it is to heat the large space called a work shop. That is going to cost a fortune in heating oil. Then we have to pay to get rid of the waste. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to see what is going to happen to a lot of it, something has to be done. These idiot’s can’t be allowed to get away with this.

    Mel

    Reply
    • Absolutely agree-lunacy !!

      Reply
      • i would like to cameron and a couple of his mates come down here and roll his sleeves up and do a week in the workshop with no heating
        that would wipe the smerk of his face and the bureaucrats that thought this one up
        god this has got my goat

        Reply
  11. When the person thought that taxing oil burners in this way to reduce pollution, did they take into consideration the amount of waste that is burned from workshops, farms and other industrial premises? Its a fact that you have to pay to dispose of industrial waste. Even vans taking household waste to recycling centre’s are turned away leaving you with the easy option of burning the waste at home or elsewhere. I think we pay enough in taxes already without paying disposal fees. How many tons of trade and industrial waste do you think is burned every day causing massive pollution. As usual the ministers go for the easy target.

    Reply
  12. When the person thought that taxing oil burners in this way to reduce pollution, did they take into consideration the amount of waste that is burned from workshops, farms and other industrial premises? Its a fact that you have to pay to dispose of industrial waste. Even vans taking household waste to recycling centre’s are turned away leaving you with the easy option of burning the waste at home or elsewhere. I think we pay enough in taxes already without paying disposal fees. How many tons of trade and industrial waste do you think is burned every day causing massive pollution. As usual the ministers go for the easy target.

    Reply
  13. The cost of converting and running on Heating oil may look attractive at the moment, but that cost is only going one way

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  14. The cost of converting and running on Heating oil may look attractive at the moment, but that cost is only going one way

    Reply
  15. We purchased ours last year, it is very clean burning, heats the workshop a treat & disposes of all of our waste oil, it is ridiculous if this red tape comes into effect, not to mention the scandalous costs to carry on using it. I cannot believe that the manufacturers & factors are still selling them and not passing on this information!

    Reply
  16. We purchased ours last year, it is very clean burning, heats the workshop a treat & disposes of all of our waste oil, it is ridiculous if this red tape comes into effect, not to mention the scandalous costs to carry on using it. I cannot believe that the manufacturers & factors are still selling them and not passing on this information!

    Reply
  17. Absolutely typical of this government can’t see the wood for the trees.

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  18. Absolutely typical of this government can’t see the wood for the trees.

    Reply
  19. Lets face it this isn’t about the environment, its about the government being able to get even more money out of small businesses. We currently use a waste oil burner but it will be to expensive to run on clean oil or pay for the application and annual fee so it will be made redundant now and the lads in the workshop will have even more difficult conditions to carry an already hard and difficult job. I’d like to see the Rory Stewart work a winter in a workshop with no heating and then he might see things differently.

    Reply
  20. Lets face it this isn’t about the environment, its about the government being able to get even more money out of small businesses. We currently use a waste oil burner but it will be to expensive to run on clean oil or pay for the application and annual fee so it will be made redundant now and the lads in the workshop will have even more difficult conditions to carry an already hard and difficult job. I’d like to see the Rory Stewart work a winter in a workshop with no heating and then he might see things differently.

    Reply
  21. Maybee we should now vote for out of the beurocratic mess we have been in and make our own mind up!

    Reply
  22. Maybee we should now vote for out of the beurocratic mess we have been in and make our own mind up!

    Reply
  23. As a sole trader ,the prospect of not using waste oil as a source of heating is going to have a major impact on my buisiness ,i cannot store new heating fuel at my premises as there is no room outside, 205 litre drums of red diesel work out at £200 and my burner uses 20 litres a day= £££££ . Considering that no one has ever complained about smoke or smell and everyone within a 500 meters has not grown two heads ,im pretty sure a waste oil burner is not the devil in disguise !
    Underhanded ,and totally unjustified legislation !

    Reply
  24. As a sole trader ,the prospect of not using waste oil as a source of heating is going to have a major impact on my buisiness ,i cannot store new heating fuel at my premises as there is no room outside, 205 litre drums of red diesel work out at £200 and my burner uses 20 litres a day= £££££ . Considering that no one has ever complained about smoke or smell and everyone within a 500 meters has not grown two heads ,im pretty sure a waste oil burner is not the devil in disguise !
    Underhanded ,and totally unjustified legislation !

    Reply
  25. Ridiculous and have this government not been overtaxing us small
    Businesses for too long now. Its hard enough to earn a wage and now there’s going to be even more stress and pressure put on us . I’ve got employees who I’m charged by taxes just to keep them in employment and we’ve got the ridiculous music licences waste taxes . I’m convinced this bloody government doesn’t want small businesses

    Reply
  26. Ridiculous and have this government not been overtaxing us small
    Businesses for too long now. Its hard enough to earn a wage and now there’s going to be even more stress and pressure put on us . I’ve got employees who I’m charged by taxes just to keep them in employment and we’ve got the ridiculous music licences waste taxes . I’m convinced this bloody government doesn’t want small businesses

    Reply
  27. We have been using a waste oil heater for 30 years now on our third modern clean no smell and council calls every two years to check for smoke and paperwork it’s never failed yet we pay our SWOB licence through our work have about 3000 ltrs a year to burn who ever thought of putting charges up should work for one day in winter in a workshop with no heat it is just more BS from ministers trying to justify their huge wages and gain brownie points.

    Reply
  28. We have been using a waste oil heater for 30 years now on our third modern clean no smell and council calls every two years to check for smoke and paperwork it’s never failed yet we pay our SWOB licence through our work have about 3000 ltrs a year to burn who ever thought of putting charges up should work for one day in winter in a workshop with no heat it is just more BS from ministers trying to justify their huge wages and gain brownie points.

    Reply
  29. So the powers that be now expect me to pay £4,602 per year just for a licence. I am a small independent garage so earn very little these days & this new regulation amounts to daylight robbery. For me working 5 days a week, using the heater in the winter for say perhaps 3 months a year, this will now cost me £71 per day, that’s £354 per week. It would be nice if I could even earn that much a week! If we have to be taxed yet again it should be affordable for all, on a monthly licence, otherwise we are paying for say 9 months a year for not using a heater. Another nail.

    Reply
  30. So the powers that be now expect me to pay £4,602 per year just for a licence. I am a small independent garage so earn very little these days & this new regulation amounts to daylight robbery. For me working 5 days a week, using the heater in the winter for say perhaps 3 months a year, this will now cost me £71 per day, that’s £354 per week. It would be nice if I could even earn that much a week! If we have to be taxed yet again it should be affordable for all, on a monthly licence, otherwise we are paying for say 9 months a year for not using a heater. Another nail.

    Reply
  31. Ok, so let me work this out. First I spend I few grand to buy the oil burner (new of course) to keep myself and staff warm in the freezing workshop as shutters are open all the time. Fair enough. Then I use my own waste engine oil to run the burner. Makes sense and it’s put to good use. But now I have to pay thousands every year to use MY OWN burner which I’ve already paid for, with MY OWN waste oil. Hold on, is someone taking the Michael!!!
    Next we will have to pay a tax on drinking our own cups of tea to try an keep warm. What the hell is this government doing. Are we not getting penalised enough through taxes.

    Reply
  32. Ok, so let me work this out. First I spend I few grand to buy the oil burner (new of course) to keep myself and staff warm in the freezing workshop as shutters are open all the time. Fair enough. Then I use my own waste engine oil to run the burner. Makes sense and it’s put to good use. But now I have to pay thousands every year to use MY OWN burner which I’ve already paid for, with MY OWN waste oil. Hold on, is someone taking the Michael!!!
    Next we will have to pay a tax on drinking our own cups of tea to try an keep warm. What the hell is this government doing. Are we not getting penalised enough through taxes.

    Reply
  33. Looking at the big picture the government win on both counts 1,If you have to buy heating oil or diesel you pay tax and vat on it , so by using waste oil they lose out on this revenue. 2,If you use waste oil they tax you on licencing etc .

    Reply
  34. Looking at the big picture the government win on both counts 1,If you have to buy heating oil or diesel you pay tax and vat on it , so by using waste oil they lose out on this revenue. 2,If you use waste oil they tax you on licencing etc .

    Reply
  35. No sense in it the person who worked this out should try working in a large garage

    Reply
  36. No sense in it the person who worked this out should try working in a large garage

    Reply
  37. I know how everyone feels in the same boat,purchased a state of the art oil burner heats the workshop to a comfortable temperature.all my lads are happy,now have a nice letter drop through the door that gave me six days notice that we either pay an extortionate license fee or we have to run it on heating oil and pay for waste oil to be collected at 10p a litre.what a joke,they are not concerned about pollution just another money making scheme.more carbon efficient don’t think so!

    Reply
  38. I know how everyone feels in the same boat,purchased a state of the art oil burner heats the workshop to a comfortable temperature.all my lads are happy,now have a nice letter drop through the door that gave me six days notice that we either pay an extortionate license fee or we have to run it on heating oil and pay for waste oil to be collected at 10p a litre.what a joke,they are not concerned about pollution just another money making scheme.more carbon efficient don’t think so!

    Reply

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