Waste duty of care for organisations

If you produce, import, carry, keep, treat or dispose of waste you have legal responsibilities for this waste. This is known as your duty of care.

Waste producers

A waste producer is the person, or organisation, whose activity creates the waste. This is regardless of whether they have been instructed by somebody else or not. If a person creates waste as an employee, their employer is the waste producer. If a person creates the waste as a contractor or sub-contractor, they are the waste producer.

Waste carriers

A waste carrier is any person who normally and regularly collects, carries or transports waste in the course of their business or with a view to profit. This includes those that produce and transport their own waste.

Waste brokers

A waste broker is any person, business or organisation that arranges waste transportation and management of waste on behalf of another party. This could be an organisation contracting out waste collection services, such as local authorities, supermarkets and producer responsibility compliance schemes.

Waste dealers

A waste dealer may be any person, business or organisation that buys waste with the aim of subsequently selling it. This includes circumstances where the dealer does not take physical possession of the waste.

Rules you must follow

• Keep waste to a minimum. Do everything you reasonably can to prevent, reuse, recycle or recover waste, rather than dispose of it. This is known as applying the waste hierarchy.
• Make sure the waste is sorted and stored safely and securely.
• Check that the person you are transferring the waste to is properly authorised to accept it. They should be a registered waste carrier or must have the correct permit or exemption in place.
• When you transfer waste to a registered waste carrier, ask where they are taking the waste. Ensure it is to a properly authorised facility by finding details of permitted waste sites.
• Ensure that you complete a waste transfer note for each transfer of non-hazardous waste.

By making sure that waste is handled safely and only passed to people authorised to receive it, we can protect the environment and human health.