On 3 December 2025, the Environment Agency (Agency) published guidance titled “Odour management: comply with your environmental permit” (Guidance) setting out what operators must do to manage odour when they apply for, vary or hold an environmental permit.
This follows the withdrawal of the Agency’s 2011 “H4 odour management – how to comply with your environmental permit” guidance (Previous Guidance). The Agency’s Frequently Asked Questions on odour (published in March 2023) have also been withdrawn, suggesting that the Guidance is an attempt to consolidate and simplify the Agency’s position.
In this insight we consider the six main areas in the new Guidance.
