The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and Welsh Government have published proposed changes to the waste exemptions system, including the U1 exemption. Full details along with the transitional arrangements are available here Policy paper: Reforming the waste exemptions system.
The policy paper, published on 15 July 2025, proposes changes to the conditions of the U1 exemption to minimise the risk to the environment and human health from abuse of the exemption. It aims to do this by restricting waste types, quantities and activities in relation to specific construction activities, rather than specifying an overall limit for the exemption. The U1 exemption name will also change from ‘Use of waste in construction’ to ‘Use of wastes to construct and maintain surfaces and barriers’ to make the purpose and intention of the exemption clearer. There will be a transition period of 12 months from the date the amendments come into force with no further detail on this date at the moment.
Earlier in July the U1 exemption was updated with information about charges and charging bands for waste exemptions. The U1 update is available here with more on waste exemption charges available here.