The Duty of Care is a law that requires you to deal with your waste in a responsible way. It applies to you if you produce, pass on, store or transport any waste (even household waste from your own home). If you break this law you could be heavily fined. For practical guidance on how to comply with the Duty of Care visit the Defra Website
Below is a helpful summary of the Duty of Care. It is not intended to represent the law in its entirety or be relied upon as legal advice. You can download a copy of the Duty of Care leaflet, by visiting the DEFRA Webiste - Duty of Care.
Environmental Protection Act (1990) - Section 34, Duty of Care.
There are three main parts to the law…
- The law says that you must store your waste in a safe and secure way.
- The law says that whoever (whether it is a company or an individual) collects your waste, must be authorised to take it. You can check whether or not someone is authorised by phoning the Environment Agency on 0645 333 111 or checking Environment Agency website .
- The law says that you must have some record of the collection of your waste. The record, which is called a 'transfer note', should say when the collection was made, what the waste was and it must have your signature on it. Both yourself and whoever you pass your waste to should keep the transfer note for two years. A copy of the transfer note must be made available to the Environment Agency, or an authorised officer of the Council, should they wish to see it.
The collection of your business waste is not paid for by Council Tax or Business Rates. You should not use litterbins or collections for household waste to dispose of your business waste.
