Upper tier or lower tier: which waste carrier licence you need and what it costs

Two people can drive the same van with the same bags in the back, and one needs an upper tier licence while the other needs nothing at all. It depends whose waste it is and what kind it is. Here is the two-minute answer, then the detail.

Do I need a waste carriers licence?

Almost certainly, if you move waste as part of a business. That includes your own business's waste, not just other people's. The law calls it registering as a carrier, and in England, Wales and Scotland you register with the regulator where your business is based. One registration covers carrying in all three countries. In England you can get an unlimited fine for carrying without one.

There is a short list of people who do not need to register. Natural Resources Wales sets it out plainly, and the same rules apply in England:

• A householder carrying waste from their own home that did not come from any business.
• A landowner clearing fly-tipped waste off their own land.
• Anyone only moving waste between places within the same premises.

Everyone else picks a tier. Answer these in order and stop at the first yes:

1. 01Is it household waste from your own home, and you are not in business? You need nothing.
2. 02Are you moving someone else's waste, or arranging for it to be moved? Upper tier.
3. 03Is any of it construction or demolition waste, even your own? Upper tier.
4. 04Is it only waste your own business makes, or are you a charity or council? Lower tier.

Lower tier: who it is for

In England and Wales you register in the lower tier if you are one of these:

• A business carrying only waste it produces itself, as long as it is not construction or demolition waste.
• A charity or voluntary organisation.
• A waste collection, disposal or regulation authority, working within its own area.
• A carrier, broker or dealer handling only animal by-products, waste from a mine or quarry, or waste from farms.

Lower tier costs nothing in England and Wales, and it does not expire, so there is nothing to renew. Take a florist (made up) who drives its own stalks, foliage and cardboard to a commercial recycling site once a week. That is its own waste, none of it is building rubble, so lower tier is right.

Upper tier: who it is for, and what it costs

Upper tier is for anyone who carries other people's waste, for money or as part of a service, and anyone who carries construction or demolition waste, including their own. Every skip hire firm, man and van clearance firm and haulier tipping for customers is upper tier.

Scotland no longer uses the words upper and lower tier. Since 1 November 2025 SEPA registers carriers under its wider environmental authorisation rules, with a paid registration for carrying other people's waste and a free one for carrying only your own. One difference matters to builders: in Scotland, carrying your own construction waste only needs the free own-waste registration, SEPA says.

In England and Wales it is the opposite, and it surprises most builders. A builder ripping out a bathroom and taking the old suite and tiles away in their own tipper is carrying their own waste, but it is construction waste, so they need upper tier. A lower tier number on that van is the wrong licence.

Carrying your own waste versus other people's

• A gardener taking away hedge cuttings from a job they did is carrying their own waste. Lower tier. If they also take away the customer's old garden furniture, that is the customer's waste. Upper tier.
• A plumber taking away pipe offcuts from a repair is lower tier. Ripping out a whole kitchen or bathroom makes construction waste, so upper tier.
• A man and van clearing a loft is carrying the householder's waste, not their own, for money. Upper tier, every time.

If you are a trade firm carrying only your own waste, LoadSnap has Trade plans built for exactly that, so the transfer note for each run to the tip is done on your phone.

Brokers and dealers

A broker arranges for someone else's waste to be moved, recovered or disposed of. A dealer buys waste and sells it on. Both need to register even if they never touch a load, and both are upper tier unless they fall into one of the lower tier groups.

This catches skip firms more than they realise. Say a customer books a skip with you in a town you do not cover, and you pass the job to another firm (made up) who drops and collects it. For that job you did not carry anything. You arranged it, so you acted as a broker. Your registration needs to say broker as well as carrier. In England adding an activity to an existing registration costs £49.62.

What changes in 2027

From 22 July 2027, upper tier carriers, brokers and dealers in England start moving from registrations to environmental permits, each firm on the day after its current registration would have expired. Lower tier firms follow a year later. Wales and Scotland keep their own systems. Our post on the carrier licence becoming a permit has the dates and what to prepare.

Questions people ask

How much is a waste carriers licence?

Upper tier in England is £191.02 for a new registration and £130.25 to renew every three years. Lower tier is free and does not need renewing. Wales and Scotland charge different amounts, shown in the table above.

How long does it take to get one?

You apply online and your details go on the public register once you are registered. Gov.uk does not publish a set waiting time for England. In Scotland, SEPA says an online application with no convictions or penalties to declare is granted by email straight away, and others are decided within 28 days.

Do I need one for a van?

The vehicle makes no difference. A car boot full of a customer's rubbish needs the same upper tier registration as a skip loader. What decides it is whose waste it is and what kind.

LoadSnap team

UK waste compliance

Written by the team building LoadSnap, the UK waste compliance platform for carriers and receivers.