This guide summarises the rules that apply when Japanese knotweed, or soil containing it, is taken off a site. It is general information, not legal advice. Guidance is updated from time to time and the regulators’ own pages, linked at the end, are the authority. If you need the waste removed, see our Japanese knotweed disposal service.
Your environmental responsibilities
It is not illegal to have Japanese knotweed on your land. It is an offence to plant it or otherwise cause it to grow in the wild. In England and Wales that offence is in section 14 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which lists Japanese knotweed in Schedule 9. In Scotland the same Act, as amended by the Wildlife and Natural Environment (Scotland) Act 2011, makes it an offence to plant, or cause to grow, any plant in the wild outside its native range.
Careless disposal is one of the commonest ways of causing knotweed to spread. Fly-tipped soil, a load that sheds material in transit and contaminated soil reused as fill can all lead to prosecution.
Waste classification
Once knotweed or soil containing it is dug up to be discarded, it is waste, and it is controlled waste. That brings in the duty of care in section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, which applies to everyone who produces, carries, keeps or disposes of it.
Knotweed waste is normally non-hazardous. It is not inert. It becomes hazardous waste (called special waste in Scotland) only if something else makes it so, such as chemical contamination in the soil or residues of certain herbicides. The producer of the waste is responsible for classifying it correctly before it is moved.
Registered waste carriers
Waste may only be handed to someone authorised to take it. A haulier carrying knotweed waste must be a registered waste carrier, and a business that arranges disposal on your behalf must be registered as a broker. Registration is with the Environment Agency in England, SEPA in Scotland and Natural Resources Wales in Wales, and each keeps a public register you can check.
Authorised disposal facilities
Knotweed waste must go to a facility whose permit or authorisation allows it to accept material containing invasive plants. Not every landfill is authorised to, and the facility must be told in advance that the waste contains knotweed. Knotweed must not be composted, taken to a household recycling centre without the site’s agreement, put in a garden waste collection or mixed with other surplus soil.
Waste transfer documentation
Every transfer of non-hazardous waste needs a waste transfer note, signed by both parties, that describes the waste accurately. For knotweed it should say that the load contains Japanese knotweed. Copies must be kept for at least two years. Hazardous or special waste moves under a consignment note instead, and those are kept for at least three years.
The UK’s digital waste tracking service is being introduced in phases. Permitted sites that receive waste in England and Wales have had to record each load on it since October 2026, with Scotland and Northern Ireland due to follow in January 2027. Waste carriers, brokers and dealers are expected to be brought in from October 2027. Until then, transfer notes and consignment notes continue as before.
Preventing the spread of knotweed
On the journey, the waste must be covered or enclosed so that none can escape. Afterwards the vehicle should be brushed down or jet-washed and checked for pieces of plant or rhizome. On site, affected soil should be kept apart from clean soil, stored on a membrane or hardstanding, and plant and tools should be cleaned before they leave the infested area. See Japanese knotweed haulage for how we apply this.
England, Scotland and Wales: regulatory differences
England
The Environment Agency’s guidance says that knotweed you cannot dispose of suitably on site must be sent to a landfill site or incineration facility that has the correct type of permit. You must check with the site in advance, use a registered waste carrier and cover or enclose the load. The guidance also says you must tell the Environment Agency that you have transferred knotweed waste and where it was sent, and that soil contaminated with knotweed must not be sold as topsoil. Treatment and burial on the site where the knotweed grew are covered by a regulatory position statement, RPS 178, which sets conditions that must be met if an environmental permit is to be avoided.
Scotland
SEPA regulates waste in Scotland. Invasive plant material and contaminated soil are controlled waste. Waste taken off site must go with a registered waste carrier to a landfill authorised to accept invasive plants, with a waste transfer note that identifies the knotweed, and the vehicle must be covered or sheeted. Scottish guidance describes this material as likely to be non-hazardous, which is a different category from inert waste. Burial or treatment on site should be discussed with SEPA first.
Wales
Natural Resources Wales states that Japanese knotweed and material contaminated with it are controlled waste under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. It must be transported by a registered waste carrier and disposed of at a suitably licensed or permitted landfill, and you may need to check that the site will accept it. Natural Resources Wales has its own regulatory decision on treating and disposing of invasive non-native plants on site.
Official government and regulator guidance
- England: How to stop Japanese knotweed from spreading (GOV.UK) and RPS 178: treatment and disposal of invasive non-native plants (Environment Agency)
- Scotland: Disposing of invasive plants and contaminated soils off-site (NetRegs, with SEPA), Invasive non-native plants (NatureScot) and SEPA
- Wales: Japanese knotweed: what you need to know (Natural Resources Wales)
- Waste tracking: Digital waste tracking service (GOV.UK)
This page was last reviewed in November 2026.