Red Tractor Standards for Waste Management

Red Tractor is the biggest food chain assurance scheme in the UK with more than 46,000 farmers accredited to its standards. It’s one of the most trusted food logos in the country, as £14 billion worth of food and drink in the UK carries the Red Tractor logo.

The not-for-profit organisation sets high standards and checks compliance across the food chain. These ensure that food with the Red Tractor logo is responsibly sourced, produced safely, and from well-cared-for animals. The Red Tractor logo can only be used on packaging for food produced by certified Red Tractor farms in the UK.

There are many standards for Red Tractor assurance, including those that cover waste management and the environment. Discover what your farm or agricultural business needs to do to comply with Red Tractor standards regarding your waste management.

All organic manure must also be stored in a way that limits contamination and pollution risks to crops, feedstuffs, animals, soils, groundwater, and watercourses. This is how standards are measured:

• Organic manure (unless within a building) must not be stored:
  • Within 10m of inland freshwaters or coastal waters
  • Within 50m of a spring, well, or borehole (where there’s risk of runoff entering watercourses)
• Manure heap effluent run-off must not enter a watercourse
• Manure stored in temporary field heaps must be moved at least every 12 months
• Slurry tanks, reception pits, pipes, and channels must be impermeable
• Above-ground slurry stores with a pipe for emptying need fitting with at least two functioning valves (one of which can be the nozzle) and locked when not used
• Reception pits can hold 48 hours’ production including likely rainfall on all surfaces draining into the pit
• Combined available capacity of slurry tanks, pits, compounds, and lagoons can sufficiently store slurry of at least:
  • Four months in non-NVZ areas
  • Five months in NVZ areas
  • 22 weeks in Scotland
  • Five months in Wales

Silage needs storing securely to reduce contamination and pollution hazards. This is how standards are measured:

• All silage must be made and stored at least 10m from watercourses and at least 50m from springs, wells, and boreholes
• Silos require an effluent collection system
• Effluent from baled silage must not leak into water sources
• Field silage effluent requires containment (field storage is not permitted by Scottish legislation)

Safe waste management is required to prevent any chemical or physical contamination as well as the spread of disease or pollution. All waste must be disposed of in ways that reduce contamination and pollution risks. This is how standards are measured:

• All waste is disposed of by a registered waste carrier
• Waste is not burned (except vegetation and untreated wood)
• To dispose of empty PPP containers they must be:
  • Cleaned using an integrated pressure rinsing device or triple rinsed appropriately and the rinsate returned to the spray tank
  • Stored securely and not reused
  • Returned to the supplier (or disposed of via a registered waste carrier if non-returnable)
• Redundant PPPs are disposed of via the supplier or a registered waste carrier