The increase applies to fees covering movements of “notified waste” – shipments subject to stricter notification controls – and comes as part of a wider package of charge adjustments across environmental permitting, waste carrier registration and producer responsibility regimes.
Investing in new digital services
The EA said the new charges are designed to accommodate recent increases in the cost of its service.
This includes inspection, compliance monitoring and enforcement activity around waste exports.
A spokesperson for the EA said: “The Environment Agency has a key role to play in supporting sustainable growth alongside protecting the environment.
“The increases to cost-of-service charges are proportionate and allow us to address increased business costs.
“For many of our services, these are the first increases since 2018 and will allow us to continue the fundamental services we provide to customers, while also being more efficient with the money raised by investing in new digital services and technology to deliver better and more effective regulation.”
Charge increases to hit across the sector
The changes were outlined in an April 2025 consultation, which proposed an increase to regulatory charges covered by the Environment Agency Charging Scheme 2022 and the Waste Charging Scheme 2018.
This includes charges relating to:
- Environmental permits
- Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)
- Waste batteries and accumulators
- Waste carriers, brokers and dealers
- International waste shipments
- Transfrontier shipment of radioactive waste and spent fuel
The EA’s response, released in August 2025, confirmed that nearly all proposed increases will be implemented in full.
During the consultation, some respondents voiced opposition to these above-inflation increases, with a number of operators expressing concern when the fee hikes appeared to take effect immediately.
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