New waste responsibilities for businesses
8 June 2011
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If you get someone else to carry your business waste for you – other than your local authority – you will now need to check that they are registered under a new two-tiered system. Find out how the changes will affect your business and what evidence of registration you need to ask your waste carrier for.
Under the Waste Regulations 2011, which came into force on 29 March 2011, you must ensure that anyone who handles your business waste, including waste contractors, scrap metal merchants, recycling and skip hire businesses, has the correct permit, registration or exemption. You need to keep evidence of this so you can prove you have checked if necessary.
 
The new regulations introduced a two-tier registration system for waste carriers, brokers and dealers.
 

What do I need to check?

If your waste carrier is in the upper tier (they carry the majority of commercial and industrial controlled waste), or if they were registered as a waste carrier before 29 March 2011, they will have a certificate of registration or a certified copy of it, which will show when their registration expires.
 
You can take a photocopy of the original certificate for your own records, date it and write on it that you have seen the original. Authorised credit card-sized copies of the certificate are also acceptable proof of registration.
 
If your waste carrier is in the lower tier, they will have a letter confirming their registration. If they were registered before 29 March 2011, they will be on a register of professional collectors and transporters, and should also be able to show you a letter to prove their registration.
 
To find a registered waste carrier, check the public register of waste carriers on the Environment Agency website.
 

Transporting your own waste

You can currently take your own business waste, other than construction or demolition waste, directly to an authorised waste management site or recycling facility without registering as a waste carrier.
 
However, from December 2013, businesses will have to register with the Environment Agency as a lower tier waste carrier if they normally and regularly carry their own business waste.
 
If you transport your own construction or demolition waste, you must register as an upper tier waste carrier with the Environment Agency now.
 

Future changes

The Controlled Waste Regulations 2011, expected to come into force in October 2011, will give local authorities in England and Wales discretionary power to charge for the disposal as well as collection of waste from non-domestic properties.


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