Businesses have a legal responsibility to:
- make sure their waste is stored correctly and does not escape their control
- only give their waste to an authorised person (a waste disposal company that can legally take it)
- make sure a written record of all waste and recycling is kept every time the waste is passed to a waste disposal company
- keep waste Transfer Notes for each time waste is given to a private company
All written descriptions and Transfer Notes must be:
- accurate
- kept for at least 2 years from the date that the waste is transferred
- show that the waste is being passed to a legal waste disposal company
You may be prosecuted if you do not keep records of waste disposal.
For practical guidance on how to meet your waste duty of care requirements see GOV.UK: waste duty of care code of practice.
For further practical advice on how to manage waste safely and efficiently visit Right Waste, Right Place.
Contact about duty of care
If you have received information from us about the duty of care, please read it carefully as it contains important information. Check you are meeting your responsibilities under the duty of care to prevent your business from receiving a Notice or Fixed Penalty notice (see enforcement below).
Business waste collection
Any waste created in a business premise or by a business is business waste and cannot be treated as household waste. Even small businesses produce business waste, for example, mail, office waste, food waste or packaging from deliveries.
We cannot collect business waste. This means all businesses need to make their own waste collection arrangements through a private waste collection company. Waste collection companies should provide records as soon as they start collecting waste.
It is an offence to take business waste home and put it in your domestic bin, or to take it to a household waste and recycling centre.
If any waste linked to your business is found illegally disposed of, or incorrectly stored (and escaping from your control) it is still an offence and you may be prosecuted.
Enforcement
We will give advice and work with businesses to make sure they dispose of their waste legally.
We may visit your business as part of a routine inspection or a survey of businesses in your area.
Fixed Penalty Notices
Our external litter enforcement contractor, Kingdom, may visit your business at any time. Kingdom can issue a Fixed Penalty Notice (set nationally at £300) if you are unable to produce Waste Transfer Notes.
As there is a legal duty on businesses to have the correct records, you cannot appeal a Fixed Penalty Notice.
Notices
The council has powers to give a Notice to a business because:
- we get reports of illegal disposal of waste by a business or businesses in an area
- there is no clear arrangement for the legal disposal of waste from a business
- evidence is found of business waste illegally put out as household waste
The Notice will set out:
- the documents needed as evidence (for example, written descriptions of waste, waste Transfer Notes, receipts)
- where the documents must be sent
- the length of time to provide the documents to the council (usually 7 days from the date of the Notice)
If you haven’t kept records of your waste or ignore the Notice, you may be prosecuted and liable to a fine of up to £5,000. However, in most instances, we will issue a Fixed Penalty Notice (set nationally at £300).
If your business has no records or partial records, you must tell us as soon as you receive the Notice. We urge you to set up arrangements for waste collection immediately and to tell us about these arrangements, with evidence, in your reply to the Notice.