Commercial waste and your duty of care
A legal responsibility
All businesses produce waste, and all waste produced by your business or within your workplace is regulated by waste laws.
If you run a business, you are legally responsible for ensuring that the waste it produces or handles is stored, transported, treated, reprocessed and disposed of safely. This is your duty of care.
What you must do to comply with the duty of care
You must ensure that you:
- store and transport your waste appropriately and securely
- check that your waste is transported and handled by people or businesses that are authorised to do so
- complete waste transfer notes (WTNs) to document all waste you transfer, and keep them as a record for at least two years.
The duty of care has no time limit. You are specifically responsible for your waste from when you produce it until you have transferred it to an authorised person. However, if you think that your waste is not being managed correctly, you must take action to check and prevent this.
For a full outline of your responsibilities, we recommend that you read the Duty of Care leaflet (PDF, 217KB) provided by the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Working at private households
If your business carries out work at private households, any waste you produce is classed as commercial waste and you must treat it as such. This includes waste items you collect when you deliver new items.
Hazardous waste
If you produce or handle waste with hazardous properties, you must also comply with hazardous waste regulations. Hazardous waste may be flammable, corrosive or ecotoxic – toxic to people or the environment.
Whenever hazardous waste is moved or transferred, it must be accompaned by a consignment note. If you produce hazardous waste you must keep copies of consignment notes for three years.
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations
The Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Regulations apply to electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) in the categories listed below, with a voltage of up to 1000 volts for alternating current or up to 1500 volts for direct current. You will need to comply with the WEEE Regulations if you generate, handle or dispose of waste that falls under one of the below ten categories of WEEE:
- large household appliances
- small household appliances
- IT and telecommunications equipment
- consumer equipment
- lighting equipmente
- electrical and electronic tools
- toys, leisure and sports equipment
- medical devices
- monitoring and control equipment
- automatic dispensers
More information about your duty of care
For more information about your duty of care, you can
- contact us using the details at the top right-hand corner of the page
- download a DEFRA leaflet about duty of care (PDF, 217KB)
- visit the Environment Agency website
Page updated: 15 Jun 2010
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