T28T28: waste exemption: sorting and denaturing controlled drugs for disposal
The T28 waste exemption allows pharmacies and similar practitioners to denature controlled drugs, to comply with Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001. T28 exemptions are free of charge.
Applies to England
T28 exemptions are free of charge
Call the Environment Agency on 03708 506506 to register your exemption.
Pharmacies and veterinary surgeries are required to sort and denature (‘treat’)waste controlled drugs before disposing of them. You need to register a T28 exemption to do this.
‘ControlledControlled drug’drugs isare specifieddefined in Schedules 1 to 5 of the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001.
Types and amounts of waste you can treat
You can:
- store or treat up to 1 cubic metre of waste controlled drugs at any one time
- store waste controlled drugs for up to 6 months
Your waste must fit within the waste codes and descriptions.descriptions in the table.
Waste codes and descriptions
| Waste code | Type of waste |
|---|---|
| 18 01 09 | Medicines from natal care, diagnosis, treatment or prevention of disease in humans |
| 18 02 08 | Medicines from research, diagnosis, treatment or prevention of disease involving animals |
| 20 01 32 | Medicines separately collected as municipal waste |
Amount of waste allowed
You can:
storeortreatupto1cubicmetreofwasteatanyonetimestorewasteforupto6months
Conditions
You must be an authorised person (for example, pharmacist) under the Misuse of Drugs Regulations 2001 to register a T28 exemption.
You cannot:
- treat waste drugs that
are - treat waste
drugsthatifthewaste - store or treat more than the maximum amount allowed
inthisexemption
StoringRegistering othera wasteT28 drugsexemption
You undercan register free through the non-wastewaste frameworkexemption directiveservice.
Registration (NWFD)rules
You cancannot:
- have more than one T28 at a site at the same time
- register a T28 if it’s already been registered at the site by another business
- renew your registration more than one month before the 3-year registration period ends
- store
returnedwaste that is not included in your exemption
Storing returned or out-of-dateout-of-date drugs
You medicinescan underuse theexemption NWFD exemption4: forTemporary temporary storage at a collection pointcollection point. to store returned or out-of-date medicines.
You do notnot need to haveregister the tonon-waste registerframework thedirective (NWFD) exemption.
Registerstorage exemption. You amust T28still comply with the exemption conditions.
Related guidance
CallRead tothe registerregulatory freeposition ofstatement charge.on Denaturing controlled drugs that have become waste.
Contact the Environment Agency
General enquiries
National Customer Contact Centre
PO Box 544
Rotherham
S60 1BY
Email enquiries@environment-agency.gov.uk
Telephone 03708 506 506
Telephone from outside the UK (Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm GMT) +44 (0) 114 282 5312
Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm.
Updates to this page
-
Updated to say that it is free to register a T28 waste exemption, and you must phone the Environment Agency to register.
Update history
2026-02-03 09:30
Updated because you can now register T28 through the digital service. You can no longer register T28 over the phone.
2025-07-01 09:00
Updated to say that it is free to register a T28 waste exemption, and you must phone the Environment Agency to register.