Fire Prevention Plans

Fire Prevention Plans or FPPs are a requirement of any site operator with an environmental permit that receives combustible waste with the objective of minimising the likelihood of a fire happening, aiming to enable a fire to be extinguished within 4 hours, and minimising the spread of fire within the site and to neighbouring sites[1]. During 2023/24 more than 1,200 battery related fires broke out in refuse vehicles and at waste facilities - a 71% increase on the previous year[2].

An Environmental Permit will either have a specific condition requiring appropriate measures to be taken, or require a fire prevention plan to be maintained as part of the written management system associated with the environmental permit.

Sectors requiring a FPP include (but are not limited to)[1]:

• waste metals (end -of-life vehicle (ELV) sites and scrap metal)
• non-hazardous waste
• waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) - both hazardous and non-hazardous WEEE
• biowaste treatment (open windrow, in-vessel composting and dry anaerobic digestion)
• agriculture (intensive farming only)
• incineration
• combustion
• paper and pulp
• cement, lime and minerals

The types of combustible waste listed in the guidance[1] are:

• paper or cardboard
• plastics
• Rags and textiles
• scrap metals contaminated or mixed with other waste such as oils or plastics
• de-polluted and un-depolluted ELVs including fragmentiser waste
• refuse derived fuel (RDF) and solid recovered fuel (SRF)
• compost and plant material
• biomass
• mixed waste containing any combustible wastes
• WEEE (including fridges, PCs, TVs etc)
• rubber (whole and baled tyres, tyre shred, crumb and fibre)
• wood (planks, boards, sawdust, shavings, logs, firewood, crates, pallets, casks or barrels)

and specific reference to waste containing Persistent Organic Pollutants, or POPs, which require specific segregation and compliance with specific regulations[3].

FPPs must provide details of the different types of activities undertaken at the site; including the location of the activity, how it is performed and what machinery is used. This includes all waste management activities but also any other activities that could be a fire risk[1].

It must also include a site plan(s) that is drawn to a scale that is large enough to clearly identify:

• the layout of buildings
• any areas where hazardous and flammable materials are stored on site (location of gas cylinders, process areas, chemicals, piles of combustible wastes, oil and fuel tanks)
• all permanent ignition sources on site and show they are a minimum of 6m away from combustible and flammable waste
• any areas where combustible waste or combustible non-waste material is treated or stored
• all separation distances
• any areas where combustible liquid wastes are stored
• any area where depollution of ELVs take place
• any area where crushing, shredding, baling of metals or ELVs take place
• main access routes for fire engines and any alternative access
• access points around the site perimeter to assist firefighting
• hydrants and water supplies
• areas of natural and unmade ground
• drainage runs, pollution control features such as drain closure valves, and fire water containment systems such as bunded or kerbed areas (this may be easier to show on a separate drainage plan)
• storage areas with pile dimensions and fire walls (where applicable) – this includes wastes stored in a building, bunker, or containers – include indicative pile layouts and ensure it is geographically representative
• the location of fixed plant or where mobile plant is stored when not in use
• the location of spill kits
• the quarantine area
• anything site specific that needs to be added

FPPs must indicate all sensitive receptors within a 1km radius of a site that could be affected by a fire. Examples of sensitive receptors may include:

• schools, hospitals, nursing and care homes, residential areas, workplaces
• protected habitats, watercourses, groundwater, boreholes, wells and springs supplying water for human consumption – (some habitat information on the Defra MAGiC map website)
• roads, railways, bus stations, pylons (on or immediately adjacent to the site only), utilities, airports

FPPs must have a compass rose showing north and the prevailing wind direction.