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ZM Multi-Fuel Heaters, Burners and Boilers
It is important to state that No licence is required for any of the ZM Multi-Fuel Heaters or our Multi-Fuel Burners and Boilers and we do not need to notify anyone regarding the purchase of one of these units as these all run on numerous oils, and we do sell a lot of these across the UK, in fact we are selling more now than ever before!
At a time of ever rising fuel costs its unsurprising that many commercial and agricultural premises are looking for more cost effective ways of heating even with the legislation around the burning of ‘waste oil’ as they seek to reduce outgoings by using these Multi-Fuel Heaters.
These heaters and burners can burn nearly all vegetable, animal, conventional heating fuels and waste oils, that saves users money and provides flexibility when choosing their preferred fuel source. In more recent times we have seen a huge increase of businesses now using vegetable oils as a fuel source, this is a very green option as its renewable and is CO2 neutral.
Obviously if you wish to run theses Multi-Fuel units on used engine oil, it is not illegal to burn waste oil but there is legislation around the burning of waste oils, that differs around the UK. If you wish to know more details on the legislation and how that would affect you and your business then please call our office during opening hours on 0333 600 4460 (Mon-Fri 9am – 5:30pm) and we will be more than happy to go over everything regarding the legislation and the fuel usage.
Waste oil is energy rich and safe to burn and from a greenhouse gas emissions perspective, burning waste oil on site is the most effective solution. It saves the emissions of the truck coming to collect it, the energy cost of recycling it and then the further impact of packaging and redistribution. As most waste oil is eventually burned anyway (for power production in generator furnaces) the net impact of burning waste oil on site is generally regarded as positive.
It is important to service and maintain your Multi Fuel Heater or Burner as specified in manufacturers guidelines. If you do this and use appropriate fuel sources, modern multi-fuel ‘waste oil’ heaters and burners will achieve clean and efficient smoke-free combustion.
Legal Position on Small Waste Oil Burners (SWOBs) and the burning of Waste Oil (updated Jan ’16)
In September 2015 the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) consulted on revised guidance in respect of Small Waste Oil Burners (SWOB).
Previous guidance allowed local authorities to consider SWOBs on a case-by-case basis and in most cases exempt them from the regulations enforced under what was the EU ‘Waste Incineration Directive’ and more recently the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED) (with a Part B LAPPC permit).
Under this policy, local authorities typically asked for a form, sometimes with an on-site assessment visit, before issuing a simple permit, typically costing less than £150 per year.
This relied on UK government’s interpretation that SWOBs fell outside the scope of the WID (EU Waste Incineration Directive). Following some objections, and legal challenge this position has now been changed.
The new guidance now explicitly states that Small Waste Oil burners are within the scope of the Environmental Permitting (England & Wales) Regulations 2010 and the European IED. This clarification means that in order to continue to burn waste oil in a SWOB after 31st March 2016 it will be necessary to have a permit under Schedule 13A of the Environmental Permitting (England & Wales) Regulations 2010.
Although these may still be issued by local authorities – and it appears there is both variation between local authorities as well as confusion within individual authorities on the changes – the fees will be set by DEFRA according to the RMI IGA.
It is important to remember that the heaters themselves, often termed ‘universal waste oil heaters’ will be able to burn non-waste fuels and this is a perfectly legitimate way to continue to use your heater. Indeed, DEFRA themselves have estimated some 90 – 95% of waste oil heaters currently in use around the UK never had the permits required previously issued in the first place.
Please note : whilst we try to keep information up to date and provide information that will be useful to customers we take no responsibility for errors or omissions.
