Commercial Waste Compliance: The UK Duty of Care Checklist

If your business produces waste — and every business does — you carry a legal duty of care for it from the moment it is created until it is finally disposed of. That responsibility does not end when the bin lorry drives away.

What the duty of care requires

Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the associated regulations, businesses in England and Wales must:

• Store waste securely so it cannot escape
• Separate recyclable materials where reasonably practicable
• Transfer waste only to an authorised person
• Complete a waste transfer note for every transfer
• Keep those notes for at least two years — three for hazardous waste
• Describe the waste accurately, including the correct EWC code

Check your carrier is licensed

Anyone collecting your waste must hold a valid waste carrier registration. You can verify this free of charge on the Environment Agency public register (SEPA in Scotland, NRW in Wales). Take a copy and diarise the expiry date. "I didn't know they weren't licensed" is not a defence.

Your document file

1. Current waste transfer notes or an annual season ticket
2. A copy of each carrier's registration certificate
3. Consignment notes for any hazardous waste
4. The receiving site's environmental permit or exemption
5. Recycling and recovery data if you report on ESG

Penalties

Failure to produce transfer notes can attract a fixed penalty notice; more serious breaches — particularly where waste is fly-tipped after leaving your premises — can lead to unlimited fines and prosecution. Directors can be held personally liable.

Compliance and cost are not opposites

In our experience the same audit that fixes a compliance gap usually finds savings too. Oversized containers, collections scheduled more often than the volume justifies, and recyclables going out as general waste at a higher rate are all extremely common — and all cost money as well as carbon.

Ask us for a free waste audit. We will review your contract, your container sizes and your paperwork, and tell you honestly whether there is anything worth changing.