The levy exemptions are under review until 1 September.
S.I. No. 441 of 2024 built its own review into the regulations: the exemptions from the €10-per-tonne waste recovery levy must be reviewed, and that review concluded, by 1 September 2026. One of those exemptions covers non-greenfield soil and stone.
Status · verified 5 August 2026
No outcome has been published. As at the date above we had identified no public consultation, no published lobbying position and no Oireachtas debate on this review. We are not predicting a result, and this page will be updated when one is announced.
What the statute requires
The review is not discretionary and not a consultation someone might choose to run — it is a requirement written into the instrument that created the levy, with two dates attached.
| S.I. 441/2024 in operation | 1 Sept 2024 |
|---|---|
| Review to be instituted by | 1 Feb 2026 |
| Final levy phase — LA-permitted sites | 1 Mar 2026 |
| Review to be concluded by | 1 Sept 2026 |
Circular Economy (Waste Recovery Levy) Regulations 2024 (S.I. No. 441 of 2024).
What is exempt today
The counter-intuitive part, and the reason the review matters: it is the clean material that pays the levy, not the dirty. Greenfield soil and stone sent to recovery as waste attracts €10/t. Non-greenfield soil and stone — previously developed land, or contaminated — is exempt from the recovery levy under regulation 5(1)(i).
| Waste recovery levy | €10/t |
|---|---|
| Greenfield soil & stone to recovery | Levied |
| Non-greenfield soil & stone to recovery | Exempt |
| Registered by-product movement | Not waste — no levy |
| Landfill levy, general | €85/t |
| Landfill levy, greenfield soil & stone | €10/t |
Statutory rates only; facility gate fees and haulage are additional and vary by operator. “Greenfield soil and stone” carries the S.I. 442/2024 definition: soil and stone from land not previously developed and not contaminated.
This is not a loophole to be exploited — non-greenfield material is more expensive to handle overall, gate fees for contaminated soil are far higher, and it cannot use the BP-N002/2024 by-product route at all. But on the levy line specifically, the exemption is real, and it is the exemption under review.
Three outcomes
Set out in the order they would change your costs, not in order of likelihood — we have no basis for ranking them.
Exemptions unchanged
The review concludes and the regime stays as it is. Greenfield soil and stone continues to pay €10/t as waste and €0 as a registered by-product; non-greenfield stays exempt. Nothing in your planning changes.
The non-greenfield exemption is removed
Every tonne of soil and stone going to recovery as waste becomes levied, whatever its origin. Brownfield and made-ground material picks up a €10/t line it does not carry today — on a 35,000 t scheme, €350,000 that was not in the tender. Note the trap: that material cannot use BP-N002/2024, which is greenfield-only, so the by-product answer for it is the slower single-case route through EDEN, with an EPA determination rather than a five-day standstill. Anyone planning for this outcome should be planning for weeks of lead time, not days.
Carve-outs are widened
Levy pressure on soil and stone falls. The compliance obligations do not move — Article 27, registration, the standstill, the chain-of-custody documents and the haulier permit position all stay exactly where they are. Only the financial argument for using the by-product route weakens.
What to do before it lands
Very little, honestly — and that is the point worth making. If you move greenfield soil and stone, the €10/t is already live and has been since 1 March 2026; the by-product route already avoids it. No outcome of this review changes either of those facts.
The one thing worth doing is knowing which of your material is greenfield and which is not, because that classification decides both your levy exposure today and your exposure if the exemption goes. It is a question most schemes can answer from the site investigation they already hold.
Straight questions
- Which exemption is actually under review?
- The exemptions in S.I. No. 441 of 2024 from the €10/t waste recovery levy. For this industry the one that matters is regulation 5(1)(i), which exempts non-greenfield soil and stone. The instrument requires the exemptions to be reviewed, with the review instituted by 1 February 2026 and concluded by 1 September 2026.
- So contaminated soil is cheaper to dispose of than clean soil?
- On the recovery levy alone, yes — and it surprises people every time. Greenfield soil and stone sent to recovery as waste attracts the €10/t levy; non-greenfield soil and stone is exempt from it. That is not a loophole, it is the drafting. It does not make non-greenfield material cheap overall — gate fees for contaminated material are substantially higher, and it cannot use the BP-N002/2024 by-product route at all — but the levy line itself does not apply.
- Will the exemption be removed?
- We do not know, and anyone telling you otherwise is guessing. As at the date on this page no public consultation, lobbying position or Oireachtas debate on the review had been identified. That means the outcome will land with little public warning, not that any particular outcome is likely.
- Does this change anything about the by-product route?
- No. Article 27 and BP-N002/2024 sit outside the levy entirely: material that qualifies as a by-product is not waste, so no levy arises on it under any version of these exemptions. What the review can change is how much material has a reason to use the route.
- Should I wait for the outcome before doing anything?
- There is nothing to wait for if you move greenfield soil and stone — that material is levied today, at €10 a tonne, and has been since the final phase came in on 1 March 2026. The review is only relevant to whether non-greenfield material joins it.
General information, not legal advice, and not a prediction of any regulatory outcome. Statutory references: Circular Economy (Waste Recovery Levy) Regulations 2024 (S.I. No. 441 of 2024); Waste Management (Landfill Levy) (Amendment) Regulations 2024 (S.I. No. 442 of 2024); EPA National By-Product Criteria BP-N002/2024.
Keep reading
Whatever the review decides, the paperwork stays the same.
Register interest — one email at launch, with your launch pricing.