Your duty of care
If you run a business - regardless of its size - you are legally responsible for ensuring that the waste you create is collected and disposed of correctly.
To comply with your legal obligations (under Section 34 of the Environment Protection Act 1990), you must ensure:
- all waste is kept safely secured until its collection
- any person or company collecting your waste is registered as a 'licensed waste carrier' by the Environment Agency
- you keep a copy of your businesses' waste transfer note as evidence that you have legal waste collection arrangements in place
- you keep a record of your waste transfer note for 2 years
- you take all reasonable steps to ensure the separate collection of dry recyclable waste
Failure to comply with your legal obligations could result in a fine and court appearance.
Read more about disposing of commercial waste (opens new window)