Business Waste Management Duties

Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 imposes a duty of care on every person who produces, imports, carries, keeps, treats, or disposes of controlled waste — which includes almost all commercial and industrial waste. The duty requires you to take all reasonable steps to prevent the illegal disposal, treatment, or keeping of waste; to prevent the escape of waste from your control; and to ensure that waste is only transferred to authorised persons.

In practical terms, this means: storing waste safely in suitable containers so it cannot escape, be accessed by scavengers, or cause nuisance; segregating waste where different waste streams (recyclable, general, hazardous) need separate handling; and not mixing hazardous waste with non-hazardous waste. The duty applies throughout the waste chain — even if you hand waste to a licensed carrier, you remain liable if you knew or suspected the carrier would handle it unlawfully.

Every time non-hazardous waste is transferred, a waste transfer note (WTN) must be completed and signed by both parties. The WTN must describe the waste (using waste codes where applicable), state the quantity, identify the transferor and transferee, and confirm the authorisation of the carrier and the disposal facility. A season ticket (a single WTN covering all transfers between the same parties over up to 12 months) can be used for regular transfers of the same type of waste.

Before transferring waste, check that your carrier is registered with the Environment Agency's public register of waste carriers, brokers, and dealers (available online). Using an unregistered carrier — even inadvertently — is a breach of the duty of care. Fly-tipped waste can be traced back to the original producer, who may face prosecution even if they paid someone else to dispose of it. Keep WTNs for at least two years and hazardous waste consignment notes for at least three years.

Hazardous waste — waste that is harmful to human health or the environment due to its toxic, corrosive, flammable, or other dangerous properties — is subject to stricter controls. Common examples include fluorescent light tubes, batteries, electrical equipment (WEEE), solvents, pesticides, and asbestos. Hazardous waste must be segregated from non-hazardous waste, stored in suitable labelled containers, and transferred only to a licensed hazardous waste carrier and disposal facility.

The transfer of hazardous waste requires a hazardous waste consignment note (not a standard WTN). In England, premises that produce more than 500kg of hazardous waste per year were previously required to register as a hazardous waste producer — this requirement was removed in 2016, but the consignment note requirement remains. If in doubt about whether your waste is hazardous, the Environment Agency's waste classification guidance and the European Waste Catalogue provide the relevant codes. Environmental permits may be required for storage of large quantities of hazardous waste on-site.