Your Commercial Waste Responsibilities

As a business you need to know your responsibilities when it comes to the waste you produce and how it is disposed of. If you do not know, the charges may come to you.

Since 2012, the “Government issued revised waste legislation that described how all waste types should be classified based upon where the waste is produced… As a result of the legislation any producers of commercial waste is required by law to make their own arrangements for waste collection and disposal rather than being disposed of by the Council’s household waste and kerbside recycling services” (James 2016)

What are my business waste responsibilities?
It is very important for any business to work within the Cornwall Council’s regulations. If you give waste to someone else, you must be sure they are authorised to collect, transport, recycle or dispose of it safely. Every business that has any commercial waste collected from any premises, has to hold a certificate and a transfer note from the waste carrier on every collection. You also need to know where the carrier is disposing of their waste. If they are unable to provide this information, it is most likely that they are an unregistered waste carrier that is illegally dumping your commercial waste. Information from cornwall.gov.uk states “dumping household, industrial and commercial waste illegally is a serious criminal offence that carries a fine of up to £20,000 or an offender can even be sent to prison.” (2017) Which could be fined to you, as you are the producer of that waste.

What happens if you don’t have a commercial waste collection?
You can’t put commercial waste in the household rubbish and recycling collections or burn it. It will simply not be collected. If you produce commercial waste as a result of your business activities, you must be able to prove that you’ve given your waste to a registered waste carrier or taken it to a licensed waste site. If you can’t, you could be fined an unlimited amount (2017).

What about recycling commercial waste?
Each business has to make its own recycling arrangements and there is a charge for the service. The cost of recycling commercial waste isn’t included in business rates. The duty of care applies to recycling as well as residual waste, so you must use a registered contractor for your business recycling as well.

How can you check your waste is disposed of correctly?
You must make sure that the site the waste is taken to authorised to accept it. You must make sure it has the necessary licence or registered exemption and that it is authorised to receive your particular waste types. Take a copy of the permit and keep it for your records. (NetRegs)

You can find out about your waste responsibilities and duty of care on the NetRegs website. The duty of care applies to anyone who produces or imports, keeps or stores, transports, treats or disposes of waste. It also applies if you act as a broker and arrange any of these services.