Advice on disposal of
Business
Waste
by
Contents
Make Waste your Business (Page 3)
Your legal obligations (Pages 4-6)
-What is the Duty of Care?
-Duty of care – what do you have to do?
-Keep the waste safely
-Transfer to the right person
-Maintain records
National Industrial Symbiosis Programme
(NISP) (Page 7)
Envirowise (Page 8)
Waste Matters (Page 9)
The Carbon Trust (Page 10)
Waste Resources Action Programme
(Page 11)
NetRegs (Page 12)
Northumberland County Council (Page 13)
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Make Waste your business
‘Going green could keep businesses out of the red’ –
Businesses that fail to invest in good environmental practices
put themselves at greater risk of collapse in the current
economic crisis, said Environment Agency Chairman Lord
Chris Smith.
How you manage your waste will affect your business costs
and reputation.
Reducing your waste, reusing what you can and recycling will
all save you money.
- Ref: Env Agency –
A number of organisations can help you with your waste
issues.
Environment Agency,
NISP,
Envirowise,
Waste Matters,
The Carbon Trust,
WRAP,
NetRegs,
Northumberland County Council.
Pre-treatment
From 30th October 2007, non-hazardous waste must be treated
before it is disposed of at non-hazardous and inert landfills.
Compaction or Squashing isn’t an acceptable form of treatment as
it doesn’t change the characteristics of the waste which will
therefore have the same impact on the environment as uncompacted waste.
More information from the Environment Agency about the new
rules that mean you can no longer send untreated waste to landfill
are available on their website.
3
Your legal obligations.
What is the Duty of Care?
As a business you have a duty to ensure that any waste you
produce is handled safely and within the law. This is your ‘Duty of
Care’. It applies to anyone who produces, imports, transports,
stores, treats or disposes of controlled waste from business or
industry.
Commercial, industrial and household wastes (including
hazardous/special wastes) are classified as ‘controlled waste’.
The Duty of Care also applies to anyone that acts as a waste
broker.
You must check than anyone that you pass your waste on to is
authorised to take it. If you don’t check that they are authorised to
take your waste and it is illegally disposed of, you could be held
responsible.
Duty of care – what do you have to do?
You must ensure that your waste is stored responsibly, is only
handled or dealt with by people of businesses that are authorised
to do so, and that you maintain records of all waste that you
transfer of receive.
Keep the waste safely
You must ensure that your waste is kept in safe secure containers,
which do not leak or spill, blow away, fall off during transport and
are secure so as to prevent scavenging by vandals, thieves,
children, trespassers or animals.
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Your legal obligations………….
Transfer to the right person
Controlled waste can be transferred to the following authorised
persons:
 A waste collection authority (your local council offering trade
waste collection services)
 A holder of a waste management licence or a person exempt
from licensing. A copy of their waste management licence,
permit or exemption will demonstrate whether they are
permitted to accept your type of waste.
 A registered carrier of controlled waste or person exempt
from being registered as a carrier of controlled waste.
Exempt carriers include charities, voluntary organisations
and waste collection authorities.
A person must be registered if they transport controlled waste
(that has not been produced by them) in the course of any
business or otherwise with a view to profit. Construction and
demolition contractors need to be registered even if they have
produced the waste themselves.
You should ask for proof that an individual or business is
authorised to handle or transport your waste.
Your
responsibility extends until the waste has either been finally and
properly disposed of or fully recovered. A registered carrier
should be able to produce a certificate of registration or a
certified copy if you ask to see it. This certificate will show
when their registration expires. Be aware that a photocopy
does not provide evidence of registration – you should ask to
see the original or a certified copy. You can take a photocopy
for your records, date it and write on it that you have seen the
original. This information can also be retrieved on line from the
Environment Agency’s public register (see below for web
address).
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Your legal obligations………….
Maintain records
Holders of waste must provide a description of the waste (or a
transfer note) to the person receiving it that enables them to
manage the waste properly. The transfer note must state the
quantity of waste transferred, a description of the waste (this is
in the form of standardised codes found in the List of Waste
Regulations), how it is packaged and the type of premises that
the waste has come from. For repetitive transfers you can use
a ‘season ticket’. A season ticket will cover multiple transfers
for up to 12 months providing the parties involved in each
transfer are the same and the description of the waste
transferred remains the same.
The list of Waste Regulations transposes the European Waste
Catalogue into domestic legislation, and provides codes for all
hazardous and non-hazardous wastes. Further information is
available at the NetRegs website (see below).
All parties must complete, sign and keep transfer notes.
Transfer notes must be kept available for inspection by the
Environment Agency for a period of 2 years. There is no
compulsory standard format for a transfer note although a
suggested format is available in ‘The Duty of Care – A Code of
Practice’ available from HMSO.
If you are in doubt of your legal obligations please consult the
sources of information listed below or contact the Environment
Agency.
Useful Contact Details
NetRegs – www.netregs.gov.uk
Environment Agency – 08708 506506
Northumberland County Council – 0845 600 6400
Further information
Waste Management, The Duty of Care – A Code of Practice,
HMSO ISBN 0-11-753210-X
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National Industrial Symbiosis
Programme (NISP)
NISP is the first initiative in the world to be launched on a
national scale and is delivered across the UK through a
network of 12 regional offices across England, Wales and
Scotland.
NISP North East helps to deliver a step change in
sustainable development across the region.
It is
diverting substantial quantities of waste from landfill,
creating hundreds of jobs. NISP North East has been in
operation since 2005.
What is Industrial Symbiosis?
Industrial symbiosis brings together companies from all
business sectors with the aim of improving cross industry
resource efficiency through the commercial trading of
materials, energy and water and sharing assets, logistics
and expertise. It engages traditionally separate industries
and other organisations in a collective approach to
competitive advantage involving physical exchange of
materials, energy, water and/or by-products together with
the shared use of assets, logistics and expertise.
NISP - North East
c/o CLEMANCE,
Innovation Building,
University of Teesside,
Middlesbrough,
TS1 3BA
T: 0845 094 9505
F: 0845 094 9506
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Envirowise delivers free, independent advice to UK
businesses. This assistance enables companies to
increase profitability and reduce environmental impact.
Resource efficiency is not just an environmental initiative,
it is also an important business process that could
potentially save your organisation a lot of money.
All the waste that your business produces has both a
financial and environmental cost associated with it that is
often underestimated. It is easy to see this waste in terms
of; unwanted packaging (cardboard, pallets), unused raw
materials, demolition waste, and process water (cooling,
washing). However, the bigger question here is around
understanding where this waste has come from, and
whether it is possible to eliminate this waste at source,
reduce, re-use or recycle it and this is where an
understanding and use of the waste hierarchy and
Envirowise comes in.
Waste costs money, typically up to 4% of business
turnover, and by finding ways to reduce waste, your
company could become more profitable.
Envirowise
Building 329
Harwell SIC
Didcot
Oxfordshire
OX11 0QJ
Tel: 0800 585794
www.envirowise.gov.uk
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Waste Matters is an online forum where you can share
information and advice, debate waste practices and
enforcement issues and find out how to get the most out
of your waste. The service is provided as part of the
Business Resource Efficiency & Waste Programme
(BREW) and funded by DEFRA (vial landfill tax receipts)
to support its duty to incentivise businesses to reduce the
amount of their waste going to landfill and to provide
advice on other methods of treatment and disposal. It has
been set up by, and is being administered by, the
Environment Agency.
As a user, you can ask questions to any of the
participating stakeholders and share information on any
topic within the waste sector. We have invested in
providing this service so that you are able to fully
understand the dynamics of waste management and to
make your time at work easier.
Waste Matters
74 Sutton Road
Maidstone
Kent
ME15 9AL
Tel: 01622 205975
www.wastematters.org.uk
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The Carbon Trust
The Carbon Trust was set up by Government in 2001 as
an independent company. Their mission is to accelerate
the move to a low carbon economy by working with
organisations to reduce carbon emissions and develop
commercial low carbon technologies.
Their website enables you to calculate the carbon footprint
of your business and gives carbon saving advice which
can also save costs.
The Carbon Trust
6th Floor
5 New Street Square
London
EC4A 3BF
Tel: 0800 085 2005
www.carbontrust.co.uk
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Waste Resources Action Programme
What does WRAP do?
It helps individuals, businesses and local authorities to reduce
waste and recycle more, making better use of resources and
helping to tackle climate change.
Manufacturers
WRAP will direct existing expertise on materials and products to
larger waste streams and difficult materials, prioritising plastics,
glass, paper and wood.
Third sector partnerships
WRAP is working with partners in the third sector to develop a
programme of support to enable service providers to gain access
to investment, and identify and build innovative offers, such as
reuse and waste prevention services.
Helping the recycling sector to grow
WRAP will continue to provide a Business Development Service
that offers financial, marketing and technical advice and resources
to business. Alongside capital grants and their Accelerated Growth
Fund, they will continue to help businesses in the sector through
their successful equip residual value guarantee scheme.
Agriculture
They are working with farmers, growers, crop consultants, product
suppliers and growing media manufacturers to grow markets for
compost products, and to establish the Quality Protocol for
Compost.
Construction
WRAP will continue to work with Envirowise, the construction
sector and its supply chain to help broker commitments to halve
the amount of construction landfill waste by 2012.
WRAP,
The Old Academy,
21 Horse Fair,
Banbury,
OX16 0AH.
Tel: 0808 100 2040
www.wrap.org.uk
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NetRegs - environmental guidance for your business
NetRegs provides free environmental guidance for small and
medium-sized businesses in the UK. They will help you to
understand what you need to do to comply with environmental
law and protect the environment. They may even help you to
save money by showing you ways to use your resources more
efficiently.
NetRegs is able to offer assistance by environmental topic and
also by business type. Please see below for a list of topics/
business types that NetRegs can offer advice on. The NetRegs
website may provide a more up-to-date list.
Agriculture: Animal boarding and care; Chemicals; Construction
and building trades; Education. Fabricated metal products; Fishing
and aquaculture; Food processing; Forestry; Healthcare;
Hospitality, leisure and Tourism; Hunting, shooting and game
breeding; Landscaping; Leather; Machinery, electrical equipment
and electronics; Metals production and processing; Mineral
products; Mining and Quarrying; Offices; Pest control; Printing and
publishing; Pulp, paper and cardboard; Rail and road transport;
Recorded media; Recycling and reprocessing businesses; Rubber
and plastic products; Surface treatment of metals; Textile and
clothing; Vehicle repair and maintenance; Waste and sewage;
Wood and wood products.
NetRegs
Environment Agency
Block 1, Government Buildings
Burghill Road
Westbury-on-Trym
Bristol
BS10 6BF
Tel: 08708 506 506
www.netregs.gov.uk
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The council provides advice and guidance to businesses
on waste disposal and offers a Recycling and Waste
collection service. The details of the service agreement
and terms available will vary depending on business
location, quantities of waste and material types, frequency
of collections etc. Please contact the Waste Management
Team at Northumberland County Council for advice.
Northumberland County Council
County Hall
Morpeth
Northumberland
NE61 2EF
Tel: 0845 600 6400
Fax: 01670 533409
Email: centralwasteteam@northumberland.gov.uk
www.northumberland.gov.uk
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