Duty of Care
Introduction
The Duty of Care regulations are part of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (Part II), and relate to the handling of business waste in a responsible manner, preventing fly tipping and pollution.
The obligations of businesses under the Duty of Care regulations are:
- To prevent the escape of waste from their containers.
- To ensure that there is a written description of the waste when it is transported to and arrives at the waste disposal site.
- To ensure that transport of waste is carried out by an authorised, licensed waste carrier.
- To ensure, within reason, that waste is dealt with in an appropriate manner at a licensed landfill or waste management facility.
These regulations apply to ALL industrial and commercial waste (with the exception of mining, quarrying, and radioactive wastes).
If your business is found to be negligent in these areas it may be fined and, in some cases, managers have been imprisoned.
The Process
When setting up a waste contract ensure that the company is licensed to transport waste and check their license papers. Beware of photocopies, as these can easily be imitations. Also check that the waste carrier transfers waste to a licensed waste disposal or treatment centre. As a licensed carrier, they should be doing this, but it is worth checking so that you can demonstrate that you have done all you can to ensure that your waste is dealt with correctly.
N.B. An individual is allowed to transport waste that THEY have generated, whether through business or otherwise.
Movement of waste should be accompanied by a Waste Transfer Note (WTN). This is a one page sheet, usually supplied by your waste transfer company, where details of the following are noted:
- The type of waste
- The method of Waste containment
- The quantity of waste
- Your company details (i.e. the company generating or handing over waste for transport)
- The details of the waste transfer company (i.e. the waste collector)
For regular collections of similar type of waste, one note may be used to cover a series of collections.
YOU MUST KEEP COPIES OF YOUR WTNs FOR 2 YEARS and these details must be made available to the Environment Agency on request. This is your main evidence that you have fulfilled the Duty of Care obligations.
Who's Who in Waste Transfer?
The terminology describing the different stages in transport of waste can be confusing. Below is a list of common terms that are used to describe different roles in the process:
- Waste Transferer - This is the company generating waste, and or any organisation that has waste that they wish to move to another site.
- Waste Transferee - This is the company that will collect and move the waste to another site. They must be licensed if they are to transport other people's waste. This is the waste transfer company.
- Place of Transfer or Collection Point - This is the final destination of the waste, which should be a licensed facility. This may be described as a Landfill Site, Waste Management Centre, or Waste Treatment Facility. The latter two types of site may provide segregation and recycling facilities.
You may need to register as a waste carrier or broker yourself, if you:
- transport construction or demolition waste
- handle, transport, recycle or dispose of any waste on behalf of another business.
It does not matter whether you are a self-employed individual, a partnership, a company or another type of organisation. The law applies equally to all. It also doesn't matter if carrying or dealing in waste is not your main business or if you only do it occasionally. You still need to register.
If you carry out any waste operations yourself - collection, treatment, dismantling, reprocessing, recycling or disposal of any waste materials - you are likely to need an environmental permit .
Further Information
NetRegs - Environment Agency business pages on Duty of Care
Environment Protection Act 1990 - Duty of Care regulations can be found in Part II, sections 33 and 34.
