Garages face dilemma ahead of small waste oil burner reg changes

From April 2016 existing SWOB permits will be revoked and will no longer have any legal status

Garages face dilemma ahead of small waste oil burner reg changes
Staying warm in the workshop could be about to become a lot more expensive.

Garages that burn waste oil in a small waste oil burner (SWOB) will be required to obtain a new permit under Schedule 13A of the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2010.

It follows a government amendment to reduce the emission of air pollutants from the use of waste oil as a fuel and will come into force from April 2016.

Speaking to GW, a DEFRA spokesperson said: “[Independent garages] could continue to use their SWOB but using non-waste fuel instead of waste oil.

“Or, if they want to continue to burn waste oil, they will need to obtain the necessary permit in accordance with Schedule 13A of the Environmental Permitting Regulations, meeting the requirements of the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) for the operation of waste incineration and waste co-incineration plants.

“Alternatively they can switch to using a different heating system, like a gas boiler.”

Increased fees

Permits will continue to be issued by local authorities with an initial application fee of £3,218 and an annual fee of £1,384, as set by DEFRA.

In a reminder to its members, the Independent Garage Association (IGA) has this week warned that there could be extra charges on top of this.

“There is also likely to be additional monitoring requirements which will further increase costs,” the IGA has said.

“This is likely to be cost prohibitive for most garages and the only alternative will be to burn non-waste fuel.”

Industry concerns
ZM heaters say that it’s unfortunate and ‘probably’ unintended that this activity has been captured by EU legislators.

ZM heaters say that it’s unfortunate and ‘probably’ unintended that this activity has been captured by EU legislators.

A consultation on the implementation of the amendments ran from September 14 to October 26, 2015 and received 23 responses, of which five were ‘small garages’.

Among the respondents, one said they would need to consider changing to an alternative heating system and a further two noted that they were not on the gas-grid and would be unable to switch to this as an alternative fuel source.

Three respondents suggested that some businesses may be expected to pay for the disposal of waste oil due to the small volumes produced or the quality of the waste oil as opposed to receiving payment from the recycling industry and feared it could result in the illegal dumping of waste oil.

DEFRA has defended the move, saying: “We have assumed full compliance in the impact assessment because there is a well established recycling industry and illegal dumping of waste oil carries penalties.”

Counterproductive?

Four respondents argued that DEFRA’s impact assessment didn’t ‘take account of the environmental damage caused by the collection of waste oil and the delivery of recycled oil to the user’ and a question about why DEFRA are ‘penalising individuals for having a low carbon footprint for burning waste oil at the point of recovery’ was also raised.

A spokesperson at ZM Heaters, distributors of ZM SWOBs, told GW: “From a greenhouse gas emissions point of view, incinerating waste oil at source for space heating is the perfect means of disposal.

“Under the new regime, this oil will still be burned.

“It will just be burned elsewhere.

“So what you will have is an energy intensive process to collect, process, package and redeliver the oil before the same outcome results.

“The fact is burning waste oil at source is still promoted as a ‘green’ solution outside the EU, including in North America.”

Despite this, DEFRA claims that the carbon footprint from processing waste oil would be lower than the human health and environmental benefits from lower air quality pollution caused by waste oil incineration.

“The combined emissions of pollutants arising from processing waste oil and using alternative fuel are lower than the emissions from burning waste oil,” the agency explained.

Confusion

ZM Heaters told GW: “Despite having previously attended a DEFRA meeting in London involving stakeholders some years ago, we were blindsided entirely by this proposed change in law.

“Even at this late stage, the only information we’ve received has been back from customers’ who’ve received letters from local authority concerning changes to the permit regime.

“There’s a lot of confusion around this but the products we supply can be used with diesel or heating oil too so operators don’t immediately need to go out and buy new heaters.”

Failure to comply to the new requirements – due to come into force in April – is an offence and regulators will be expected to issue an enforcement notice and refer the case for prosecution where appropriate.

Have you received a letter about the changes to SWOB permits yet? 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 in the comments below.

57 Comments

  1. Agree much greener having a tanker two ways for collection and delivery. Just had my letter from New Forest district Council. The environment inspector would not comment on nothing but heat haze from my chimney and black smoke from houses 200 yards away. And we are 2 miles from Fawley refinery.

    Reply
  2. Agree much greener having a tanker two ways for collection and delivery. Just had my letter from New Forest district Council. The environment inspector would not comment on nothing but heat haze from my chimney and black smoke from houses 200 yards away. And we are 2 miles from Fawley refinery.

    Reply
  3. The amount of emissions a wagon will use driving around to pick the fuel up will be far greater than what is produced by burning waste oil and as for defra wanting over £3000 initial fee and over a £1000 annually just goes to show this is more about the EE making money rather than over the quality of air just another reason we shouldn’t be part of the EU.
    The last thing a small business needs is another monthly bill Which in reality is about money they can make rather than air quality

    Reply
    • So China then buy our waste oil, then they burn it there. More money making ideas from our government. Nothing to do with pollution. China is allowed to pollute the air tho with our waste oil.

      Reply
  4. The amount of emissions a wagon will use driving around to pick the fuel up will be far greater than what is produced by burning waste oil and as for defra wanting over £3000 initial fee and over a £1000 annually just goes to show this is more about the EE making money rather than over the quality of air just another reason we shouldn’t be part of the EU.
    The last thing a small business needs is another monthly bill Which in reality is about money they can make rather than air quality

    Reply
    • So China then buy our waste oil, then they burn it there. More money making ideas from our government. Nothing to do with pollution. China is allowed to pollute the air tho with our waste oil.

      Reply
  5. Another waste of money that the EU spent to show their overbearing existence
    on the UK I will vote in the coming referendum to show my disgust .

    Reply
  6. Another waste of money that the EU spent to show their overbearing existence
    on the UK I will vote in the coming referendum to show my disgust .

    Reply
    • The EU wanted to keep the oil burners, it’s the UK that wants to get rid of them ?

      Reply
  7. All these restriction and no help to sort it out or any suggestions of anywhere to turn. Our business cannot support a £3000 bill to burnout waste oil nor can we support an additional electricity bill which also pollutes the air. Also 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. It is easy. Take oils from a car on a service store it securely, burn it. Our oil burner does not kick out black smoke Chimneys around with multi fuel burners are throwing out more fumes where will it all end. Where will the money go to for the licence? No one tells us ???

    Reply
    • Hi Anne
      How are you?
      I was wondering what way you are heating your premises now as i have been away from 2010 and it was ok to use these now im back and ive been told i cant use it? A reply will be appreciated
      Regards
      Niall

      Reply
  8. All these restriction and no help to sort it out or any suggestions of anywhere to turn. Our business cannot support a £3000 bill to burnout waste oil nor can we support an additional electricity bill which also pollutes the air. Also 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. It is easy. Take oils from a car on a service store it securely, burn it. Our oil burner does not kick out black smoke Chimneys around with multi fuel burners are throwing out more fumes where will it all end. Where will the money go to for the licence? No one tells us ???

    Reply
    • Hi Anne
      How are you?
      I was wondering what way you are heating your premises now as i have been away from 2010 and it was ok to use these now im back and ive been told i cant use it? A reply will be appreciated
      Regards
      Niall

      Reply
  9. It is an EU directive that has been “enhanced” by our jobsworths to justify their positions. Nothing whatsoever to do with pollution it is just a money maker. We (small businesses) are viewed much like the motorist and are treated as a cash cow. As an aside I had a “hazardous waste disposal permit” for our old oil, the tanker that used pick it up had a big sign on the rear saying “Non Hazardous Waste”!

    Reply
  10. It is an EU directive that has been “enhanced” by our jobsworths to justify their positions. Nothing whatsoever to do with pollution it is just a money maker. We (small businesses) are viewed much like the motorist and are treated as a cash cow. As an aside I had a “hazardous waste disposal permit” for our old oil, the tanker that used pick it up had a big sign on the rear saying “Non Hazardous Waste”!

    Reply
  11. Perhaps they should spend their time chasing after the guys removing the car DPF’s instead.
    Just another reason for keeping some half educated jack in a job with a clipboard !

    Reply
  12. Perhaps they should spend their time chasing after the guys removing the car DPF’s instead.
    Just another reason for keeping some half educated jack in a job with a clipboard !

    Reply
  13. Just another form of tax on our already overtaxed society, I am sure our customers will be totally understanding on why labour rates would have to increase to cover the extra costs.

    Reply
  14. Just another form of tax on our already overtaxed society, I am sure our customers will be totally understanding on why labour rates would have to increase to cover the extra costs.

    Reply
  15. The clipboard boys won’t be happy until there is no small businesses left. EU out Now.

    Reply
  16. The clipboard boys won’t be happy until there is no small businesses left. EU out Now.

    Reply
  17. Completely agree with all the previous comments, another stealth tax, once the license is paid a SWOB can ‘pollute’ as much as you want no mention of quantity burned (normally miniscule) or emissions check on the actual burner just pay and away you go.

    Reply
  18. Completely agree with all the previous comments, another stealth tax, once the license is paid a SWOB can ‘pollute’ as much as you want no mention of quantity burned (normally miniscule) or emissions check on the actual burner just pay and away you go.

    Reply
  19. This country’s toO soft. Get DEFRA to licence garages instead of these uninsured and unqualified Cowboy garages.

    Reply
    • So just what makes you think no-one else is capable of fixing cars and you should have the monopoly on repairs.There are many one man bands who are perfectly capable of doing quality repairs and are not “cowboys” as you call them.

      Reply
      • I agree with your comments!!! one man bands are just as good if not better than big so called companies I take extra care with my customers and do an after care service!!!

        Reply
  20. This country’s toO soft. Get DEFRA to licence garages instead of these uninsured and unqualified Cowboy garages.

    Reply
    • So just what makes you think no-one else is capable of fixing cars and you should have the monopoly on repairs.There are many one man bands who are perfectly capable of doing quality repairs and are not “cowboys” as you call them.

      Reply
      • I agree with your comments!!! one man bands are just as good if not better than big so called companies I take extra care with my customers and do an after care service!!!

        Reply
  21. We have been using reusable oil for many years and have been challenged by local authority. Waste is a product that as if of no further use, tanks and heaters are labeled up as a reusable oil. Google the meaning of waste.

    Reply
  22. We have been using reusable oil for many years and have been challenged by local authority. Waste is a product that as if of no further use, tanks and heaters are labeled up as a reusable oil. Google the meaning of waste.

    Reply
  23. One of my neighbours uses a burner. The fumes fill my premises every time the breeze is in the wrong direction. My staff and I finish the day with headaches and chest pains. Are you really suggesting that my health is a price worth paying so that you can save on heating?
    Every other business has to pay a heating cost, why should garages be any different?
    Most burners are not currently registered – only two garages in my local authority area ( there are four being used on the estate I am on), and the current fees are only £150 per year. You have brought this on yourselves by not playing by the rules.
    As soon as the new regulations come into force, then I will be reporting every user I come across to the local authorities.

    Reply
  24. One of my neighbours uses a burner. The fumes fill my premises every time the breeze is in the wrong direction. My staff and I finish the day with headaches and chest pains. Are you really suggesting that my health is a price worth paying so that you can save on heating?
    Every other business has to pay a heating cost, why should garages be any different?
    Most burners are not currently registered – only two garages in my local authority area ( there are four being used on the estate I am on), and the current fees are only £150 per year. You have brought this on yourselves by not playing by the rules.
    As soon as the new regulations come into force, then I will be reporting every user I come across to the local authorities.

    Reply
  25. Be careful guys, waste oil has a defined meaning.

    ‘Waste oil’ means mineral-based lubricating or industrial oil which has become unfit for the use for which it was originally intended and, in particular, used combustion engine oil, gearbox oil, mineral lubricating oil, oil for turbines and hydraulic oil.

    If it’s unfit for the use for which it was originally intended, then even if it has other uses it is ‘waste oil’ and cannot be burned.

    Reply
  26. Be careful guys, waste oil has a defined meaning.

    ‘Waste oil’ means mineral-based lubricating or industrial oil which has become unfit for the use for which it was originally intended and, in particular, used combustion engine oil, gearbox oil, mineral lubricating oil, oil for turbines and hydraulic oil.

    If it’s unfit for the use for which it was originally intended, then even if it has other uses it is ‘waste oil’ and cannot be burned.

    Reply
  27. We were NOT invited to comment on above. We received NO notification or WARNING about this until letter received from our council. Thermobil advised that they had been promised to be involved in colsultation process but were NOT.

    Reply
  28. We were NOT invited to comment on above. We received NO notification or WARNING about this until letter received from our council. Thermobil advised that they had been promised to be involved in colsultation process but were NOT.

    Reply
  29. I have a two year old waste oil heater which cost £4000 plus vat, it is serviced once a year and I have a certificate to prove this. When it is running there is no smoke whatsoever the flue burns as clean as my home oil boiler. Across the estate is the old type oil burner that you start up with diesel and a reg, when this is running it looks like a steam engine, it seems to me we are all getting tarred with the same brush!

    Reply
  30. I have a two year old waste oil heater which cost £4000 plus vat, it is serviced once a year and I have a certificate to prove this. When it is running there is no smoke whatsoever the flue burns as clean as my home oil boiler. Across the estate is the old type oil burner that you start up with diesel and a reg, when this is running it looks like a steam engine, it seems to me we are all getting tarred with the same brush!

    Reply
  31. I use a new pressure jet oil burner,this burner runs very hot and produces no black smoke whatsoever,if you look at the flue gasses on a frosty morning all you see is vapour.no different to you oil boiler in your house.its service once a year,I clean it every 125 hours of use.but still I will now have to pay an extortionate licence fee or pay to burn heating oil.what annoys me is that if we all pay the high license fee we can cause as much pollution as we like.what a joke more revenue for defra,it’s not about the environment it’s about making money!

    Reply
  32. I use a new pressure jet oil burner,this burner runs very hot and produces no black smoke whatsoever,if you look at the flue gasses on a frosty morning all you see is vapour.no different to you oil boiler in your house.its service once a year,I clean it every 125 hours of use.but still I will now have to pay an extortionate licence fee or pay to burn heating oil.what annoys me is that if we all pay the high license fee we can cause as much pollution as we like.what a joke more revenue for defra,it’s not about the environment it’s about making money!

    Reply
  33. Now that we are leaving the E U,can we continue to burn our waste oil at our garage? can we change the E U directive.

    Reply
  34. Now that we are leaving the E U,can we continue to burn our waste oil at our garage? can we change the E U directive.

    Reply
  35. It would be in the best interest to return to burning waste oil at source,small buisnesses cant afford the on going cost of change and we know it makes sense to burn at the point of removal.

    Reply
  36. It would be in the best interest to return to burning waste oil at source,small buisnesses cant afford the on going cost of change and we know it makes sense to burn at the point of removal.

    Reply
  37. We were not consulted in any way regarding this decision either. The first thing I was told was buy a new heater and £2000 worth of heating oil a year or find a £4000 penance to continue burning waste oil conscience free. As the previous comment: Is this an EU directive and if so , is it likely or possible to be reversed? Are there any campaign groups we could contact to get a better solution? I’m happy to pay a reasonable fee to have the burner inspected/maintained but winter is coming and my small business cant afford £4000 this year and £2000 a year going forward. That’s my profit!

    Reply
  38. We were not consulted in any way regarding this decision either. The first thing I was told was buy a new heater and £2000 worth of heating oil a year or find a £4000 penance to continue burning waste oil conscience free. As the previous comment: Is this an EU directive and if so , is it likely or possible to be reversed? Are there any campaign groups we could contact to get a better solution? I’m happy to pay a reasonable fee to have the burner inspected/maintained but winter is coming and my small business cant afford £4000 this year and £2000 a year going forward. That’s my profit!

    Reply
  39. Makes no difference, paying a fee they then say u can burn waste oil which is daylight robbery. Best to just keep burning it we do and will, its clean cost effective and recycling. We are not in the EU now so the rules becomes revoked. Very few will pay yet defra can’t work it out. Set a sensible fee of £100 and the majority will pay, meaning they would gain more money.

    Reply
  40. Makes no difference, paying a fee they then say u can burn waste oil which is daylight robbery. Best to just keep burning it we do and will, its clean cost effective and recycling. We are not in the EU now so the rules becomes revoked. Very few will pay yet defra can’t work it out. Set a sensible fee of £100 and the majority will pay, meaning they would gain more money.

    Reply
  41. We have been in the motor trade for nearly 50 years and have always burned waste oil. I am so glad we have now retired and no longer have to contend with all the legislation that some faceless idiot dreams up in his European ivory tower and DEFRA simply jumps on the bandwagon. How on earth do they expect any small business to absorb these costs – but that is the point of course, they would rather we did not exist in the first place. It’s the old boys network of big corporations ridding the world of any opposition and grabbing everything for themselves. The sooner we actually leave the EU the better, before our country disappears completely!!

    Reply
  42. We have been in the motor trade for nearly 50 years and have always burned waste oil. I am so glad we have now retired and no longer have to contend with all the legislation that some faceless idiot dreams up in his European ivory tower and DEFRA simply jumps on the bandwagon. How on earth do they expect any small business to absorb these costs – but that is the point of course, they would rather we did not exist in the first place. It’s the old boys network of big corporations ridding the world of any opposition and grabbing everything for themselves. The sooner we actually leave the EU the better, before our country disappears completely!!

    Reply
    • Bloody spot on you are 100% right

      Reply
    • Garages that burn oil and all sorts , polluting the air of nearby residents are selfish. Their homes are probably miles away from the acrit smoke. It’s disgusting and nauseating to breath in. Cancer causing chemicals. More should be done to resolve this problem. I agree charging small businesses more money is not the answer

      Reply
  43. Have been told this is being scrapped at the end of the year is this correct?

    Reply
  44. Answer. Buy a wood chip burner, help burn up all the available cheap wood ” once fuel for poorer folk” Heat the sky ! and get paid RHI by DEFRA/GOV Ha Ha Did you see what happened in Northern Ireland ?! is it Green to heat your open shed with a 500Kw wood chip boiler ? anyone would think it grew on trees. Waste oil burnt cleanly onsite what could be Greener ?!

    Reply
  45. Most new generation Engine Oil has Clean burn additives , so its designed to burn anyway, what’s the difference between a Oil burner and a Car engine , they both burn Oil , but one moves the pollution around and the other stays still.
    Gordon the Grease Monkey from Glastonbury Tails Children’s books about Garages on Amazon .

    Reply
  46. Why don’t you do a campaign about PRS Licences ?
    Performing Rights Society wants us to pay them £95 minimum just to listen to our Radios at work , music should be free for us all to listen to at work, sign my epetition called – remove requirement to
    apply for licences to play music/radio in the workplace

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>


The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

Have your say!

14 0

Lost Password

Please enter your username or email address. You will receive a link to create a new password via email.