Manufacturing & Engineering UK-wide

Environmental permits and effluent controls for textile finishing and leather tanning

A task guide for textile dyeing and finishing (SIC division 13) and leather tanning (SIC division 15) on the wet-processing environmental regime. It covers when you need an environmental permit for the installation, trade effluent consent to discharge to the public sewer, and the animal by-products controls for raw hides and skins.

Guide summary

You must get an environmental permit before operating a textile finishing or leather tanning site. If you discharge process water to the public sewer, you also need trade effluent consent from your water company. For leather tanning, you must follow animal by-products rules for raw hides and skins. Check which controls apply to your site and put them in place before you start.

  • Get an environmental permit before you start operating
  • Apply to the right regulator for your nation in the UK
  • Get trade effluent consent if you discharge to the public sewer
  • Discharging without consent is a criminal offence
  • The water company has 2 months to decide on your consent application
  • Leather tanners must follow animal by-products rules for raw hides and skins
  • Keep commercial documents for all movements of raw hides and skins
  • Use Best Available Techniques to control emissions to air, water and land
  • Monitor and report emissions as required by your permit
On this page

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Textile dyeing and finishing and leather tanning are wet processes. They use water, chemicals and heat, and they produce effluent and waste that the law controls. This guide is for makers who finish textiles (SIC division 13) or tan leather (SIC division 15) and need to manage the environmental regime before they operate.

Three separate controls can apply at once: an environmental permit for the installation itself, trade effluent consent to discharge process water to the public sewer, and the animal by-products controls for raw hides and skins. Work out which apply to your site, then put each in place before you start.

The permit and effluent regimes run across the whole United Kingdom, but the regulator differs by nation. For environmental permits, the regulator is the Environment Agency in England, Natural Resources Wales in Wales, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) in Scotland and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) in Northern Ireland. For trade effluent, consent comes from the sewerage undertaker that operates the public sewer — your water company in England and Wales, Scottish Water in Scotland, and NI Water in Northern Ireland.

Get an environmental permit for the installation

Start here. Textile finishing and dyeing and leather tanning are listed activities that need an environmental permit before you operate. The permit requires you to apply the best available techniques and to control and monitor emissions to air, water and land. Apply to the environmental regulator for your nation — the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales, SEPA or NIEA operate equivalent permitting regimes.

Get trade effluent consent to discharge to sewer

If you discharge process water — dye liquors, rinse water, tannery effluent — to the public sewer, you need trade effluent consent from your sewerage undertaker. This is separate from the environmental permit: the permit covers a discharge to the environment, while trade effluent consent covers a discharge to the public sewer. A finishing or tanning site that discharges to sewer usually needs both.

Control animal by-products for raw hides and skins

If you tan leather, your raw material is raw hides and skins, which are animal by-products. Their collection, transport, storage and disposal are controlled under the animal by-products rules, with commercial documents to accompany movements. The Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) regulates animal by-products, working with local authorities on enforcement. Treat this as a standing duty on how you receive and handle raw material, not a one-off check.

Steps to put the environmental regime in place

Work through the controls in order before you start operating. The permit and the effluent consent both take time to obtain, so begin early.

  1. 1

    1. Identify which controls apply to your site

    Confirm whether your finishing or tanning activity is a listed installation needing a permit, whether you discharge to the public sewer, and whether you handle raw hides and skins. Most tanneries engage all three controls.

  2. 2

    2. Apply for the environmental permit

    Apply to the environmental regulator for your nation — the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales, SEPA or NIEA — before you operate. Be ready to show how you apply the best available techniques and control emissions.

  3. 3

    3. Apply for trade effluent consent

    Apply to your sewerage undertaker for consent to discharge process water to the public sewer. The consent sets volume and composition limits and the sampling you must carry out.

  4. 4

    4. Set up animal by-products controls

    Arrange approved collection, secure storage and the commercial documents that must accompany raw hides and skins, and keep the required records.

  5. 5

    5. Monitor, sample and keep records

    Carry out the monitoring and sampling your permit and consent require, keep the records, and report as required. These duties continue for as long as you operate.

What to do next

The permit and the trade effluent consent both carry ongoing monitoring, sampling and reporting duties, so plan for them as standing obligations rather than one-off approvals. If you also dye, finish or tan using restricted chemicals — chromium in tanning, or restricted dyes and finishes — read the companion guide on restricted and protected materials, and run the sector compliance checklist before any production run. If you are unsure whether your activity needs a permit, confirm it with your environmental regulator before you commit — it is far cheaper to check than to operate without one.

Official sources

Statutory sources and regulators for the wet-processing environmental regime