Your responsibilities as a business

Your 'Duty of Care'

You must ensure that:

  • you store and dispose of all your waste responsibly
  • your waste is only handled or dealt with by people or businesses that are authorised to do so
  • you keep records of all waste that you transfer or receive for at least two years

You have a responsibility to:

  • Stop anyone storing, disposing of or recovering your waste unless they have an environmental permit (England and Wales), a waste management licence (Northern Ireland and Scotland), or an exemption. Check their permit, licence or exemption to make sure that they are within its conditions
  • Package all waste materials appropriately and robustly to stop them escaping from your, or anyone else's, control
  • Ensure that your waste is only transferred to a person or business authorised to deal with your particular type of waste
  • Ensure that the waste being transferred is accompanied by a written description that will enable anyone receiving it to dispose of it or handle it safely and appropriately

Material-Specific Regulations

There are further material-specific regulations that businesses must also comply with. These regulations exist because some materials are more harmful to humans and the environment. Regulations exist for the following:

  • Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)
  • Packaging Waste
  • End-of-life Vehicles
  • Hazardous/special waste
  • Ozone depleting substances

Visit NetRegs - Waste and Recycling for helpful guidance on material-specific regulations and all your business waste responsibilities.

Recent laws affecting businesses sending waste to landfill

From 30th October 2007 landfills no longer accept untreated waste. See the following guidance Your Waste Your Responsibility outlining your responsibilities as a business.

Fly-tipping

In 2006-2007 2.6 million fly-tipping incidents were dealt with by local authorities in England and they are estimated to cost local authorities alone £76 million a year to clear. Fly-tipping is a term to describe the act of the illegal dumping of rubbish, or the deposit of waste on any and with no license to accept waste. Favourite hotspots are lay-bys, farmland and public open spaces. Types of waste can range from a single plastic sack, larger items such as furniture, white ware including fridges, tyres, car parts and hazardous wastes such as oil drums, televisions and asbestos. Hazardous or not, the dumping of any waste is illegal and comes with a serious cost for the offender - either 12 months imprisonment and up to £50,000 in a magistrates' court or both; or five years or an unlimited fine in a crown court or both.

I am a local business; will the council take my rubbish for recycling?

Local Councils are not obligated to operate a recycling collection for businesses and many businesses have private collections for recycling as they would for their rubbish. The following services are currently provided by local councils:

  • Peterborough City: offers local businesses a collection for recycling paper and cardboard, plastic bottles, glass, food and drink cans. The council also offers a refuse collection. To receive a quotation services please contact Peterborough City Council on 01733 747474 or e-mail refuse@peterborough.gov.uk
  • South Cambridgeshire: offers local businesses a collection for paper recycling. For further information on this service please contact South Cambridgeshire District Council on 08450 450 500 or e-mail scdc@scambs.gov.uk
  • Cambridge City: offers local businesses recycling collections for glass and cardboard. The council also offers a refuse collection. For further information please contact Cambridge City Council on 01223 457000, or email enquiries@cambridge.gov.uk
  • Cambridgeshire County Council: provides no services directly for businesses. However, the Council is working with its waste contractor, Donarbon Ltd. of Waterbeach to provide transfer stations for the receipt of trade waste. Transfer stations are located at Waterbeach, Alconbury. The transfer station at Wisbech also accepts small-scale traders. A further site at March is planned for 2010. Contact Donarbon Ltd 01223 861010 for more information. Waste Recycling Group (WRG) also receive trade waste at their sites in Cambridgeshire, including Buckden, Milton, Grunty Fen and March. Call 01604 826200 for further information.
  • East Cambridgeshire: no trade waste recycling service.
  • Fenland District: provides refuse collection only.
  • Huntingdonshire District: provides refuse collection only.

Where else can I recycle my businesses waste?

A number of local waste contractors collect a range of materials from business for recycling, for example, paper, cardboard, timber, scrap metal and green waste. The Environment Agency website lists all licensed waste contractors and items they collect for recycling and disposal.

RECAP have also produced a local Business Recycling Services Directory listing all local companies that could recycle or reuse your business waste and a Guide to Business Recycling that provides a self-auditing guide for your business waste. Both resources were developed utilising funding from the Business Resource Efficiency and Waste Programme.

How can my business waste be reused?

Local community groups can sometimes benefit from unwanted materials. A good way to find a community group that might benefit from your unwanted materials is through the Community Recycling Network website. They can sometimes also help to match businesses waste with a community groups needs. Please contact the Community Recycling Network directly.

An alternative is the Eastex Material Exchange.This online tool works like a free online 'dating agency', matching businesses, organisations and individuals, allowing them to exchange their unwanted materials. You can view or place adverts about redundant stock and surplus raw materials and then find a 'match', saving money and keeping useful materials in circulation and out of landfill. The tool started life in Cambridgeshire and has already diverted nearly 4,000 tonnes of material from landfill and saved businesses over £400,000.