To Czech authorities, a pyrolysis plant is three things at once: a waste treatment facility, a stationary source of air pollution and a construction project. Each role has its own law and procedure. Some procedures build on others, so the order matters.
Below is an overview of what a typical project needs. The exact scope depends on the site, the plant's capacity and the waste it will process.
The permits, one by one
EIA screening
The first step is usually the screening procedure, zjišťovací řízení, under Act No. 100/2001 Coll. on environmental impact assessment. Based on a notification describing the technology, inputs and outputs, traffic and local effects, the authority decides whether the project needs a full EIA or can proceed without one.
Air protection and the dispersion study
Under Act No. 201/2012 Coll. on air protection, the plant is a source of air pollution and needs a permit to operate. The key supporting document is a dispersion study, which models how emissions spread around the site and what they add to local air quality. It must be prepared by a person authorised under that act.
Waste facility operating permit
Treating waste requires an operating permit for a waste facility under Act No. 541/2020 Coll., the Waste Act. The permit also approves the facility's operating rules: which waste types it accepts by catalogue code, in what quantities and how it handles them.
Construction permit
The construction work, meaning the paved area, foundations, utility connections and container hook-ups, needs a construction permit, known in Czech as povolení záměru. Even a containerised plant stands on a prepared site, and that site is permitted as a building project.
REACH registration
For the oil and carbon to leave the plant as products rather than waste, they must be registered under the EU REACH regulation. Otherwise they remain waste, which sharply narrows the range of buyers. Where the products go is covered in our article on what pyrolysis oil is used for.
Grid connection
The industrial line covers its own consumption of about 380 kW with a CHP (combined heat and power) unit running on its pyrolysis gas, so it needs no permanent external power connection. An application to the distribution system operator is only required if you want to export surplus electricity.
Why the CHP unit is the only emission source
For air quality, what matters is where combustion actually takes place. Nothing burns in the reactor: material is heated without oxygen to 400–600 °C and breaks down into gas and vapours that condense into oil. The reactor is a closed system that releases no flue gas.
Flue gas comes only from the CHP unit, which burns the plant's own pyrolysis gas to make electricity and heat. It is subject to the same emission limits as any gas engine. That gives the dispersion study and the authority a clear picture: one source, one fuel, known limits.
What documents to prepare
We prepare most of the documentation, but some can only come from the operator or site owner. The sooner it is together, the sooner the EIA notification and dispersion study can be drafted.
- Waste: type and catalogue code, annual volume and how it varies, a sample or lab analysis.
- Site: the land or building and its owner, an extract from the zoning plan, utilities, HGV access.
- Surroundings: distance to the nearest homes and any existing emission sources on site.
- Outputs: where the oil, gas and carbon will go, and whether you plan to export power.
Input composition matters too. PET and PVC contain oxygen and chlorine, which lower oil quality, and chlorine forms acid gases. Such materials can make up only a small share or must be separated beforehand; the operating rules set out how the input is checked.
Why permitting takes the longest
Permitting is usually the longest part of the whole project. How long it takes depends mainly on the site: the zoning plan, the distance to housing, existing air pollution in the area and whether screening ends without a full EIA. Building and installing modular technology is quicker by comparison.
That is why it makes sense to open the permitting stage as soon as the feasibility study confirms the project. For recoverable waste the clock is also running: from 2030 it is banned from landfill, as our article on the 2030 landfill ban explains.
Who runs the process
Permitting is a fixed part of every project we deliver, alongside analysis, the feasibility study, construction as general contractor, start-up and operation. We deal with the authorities, arrange the studies and file the applications, including the grid connection. At the end of each stage, you decide whether to continue.
No one can guarantee the outcome of a permitting procedure in advance, and neither can we. Careful preparation and steady contact with the authorities do, however, reduce the risk of a project stalling over a missing document.
We can talk through the permitting route for your site at a free first consultation.