Business owners are responsible for dealing with any commercial waste that they produce, including recycling.
Businesses can:
- request to use our trade waste collection or
- use our commercial waste transfer station or
- choose their nearest registered waste carrier or take rubbish to their nearest licensed disposal site.
Businesses cannot:
- use household waste recycling centres (HWRCs), or
- use public civic amenity sites for free tipping.
Please note: landfill sites do not accept waste which has not been subject to some form of treatment to reduce its volume or impact on the environment. For more details on how to manage commercial waste, visit the Environment Agency website.
Illegal fly-tipping
- It is illegal to fly-tip commercial waste or throw commercial waste into household waste bins.
- Taking commercial waste to a recycling bring bank or a household waste recycling centre is also considered as fly-tipping and is illegal.
If your waste is discovered to have been disposed of illegally, even by your carrier, your company could face prosecution.
Legal responsibilities for businesses disposing of waste
Businesses have a legal responsibility to make sure they produce, store, transport, and dispose of commercial waste without causing harm to human health or the environment. This is called your Duty of Care (DoC). The applicable legislation is the Environmental Protection Act (Duty of Care) Regulations 1991.
What businesses must do
- Store rubbish securely so it does not escape - tie up bags, flatten boxes, close bin lids.
- Sign a Trade Refuse Agreement with your carrier who is legally authorised to carry waste and pay the charges.
- Complete the waste transfer note and provide a written description of the waste. (Normally, your carrier will produce this for you as part of your agreement).
- Keep a copy of all documentation for two years. You can be prosecuted if you cannot produce full records for the last two years.
Clinical waste
Businesses will need to make their own arrangements for clinical waste.