Legal responsibilities of businesses for disposing of waste

Businesses are legally responsible for disposing of their waste correctly. They also have a duty of care to store, transport, buy, sell or dispose of waste safely. Breaching this duty is against the law.

Businesses must not use the Household Recycling Centre or household waste bins to dispose of business waste. It is illegal to do this.

We recommend you read the following information on the GOV.UK website about your duties and responsibilities:

How to dispose of business waste

Businesses can either:

Register as a waste carrier to dispose of your own business waste
Arrange regular waste collections from a registered waste carrier

Register as a waste carrier to dispose of your own business waste

You must register if your business does any of the following:

Transports waste (a carrier)
Buys, sells or disposes of waste (a dealer)
Arranges for someone else to buy, sell or dispose of waste (a broker)

You can get an unlimited fine if you do not register.

Visit the GOV.UK website to register or renew as a waste carrier, broker or dealer.

Arrange regular waste collections from a registered waste carrier

The Environment Agency holds the public register of licensed waste carriers, brokers and dealers. You can use the register to:

Check if a business or tradesperson is registered
Search for registered waste carriers in your local area

View the Register of Waste Carriers, Brokers and Dealers on the Environment Agency website.

The most convenient way to dispose of your business waste is to arrange a commercial trade waste agreement, which incorporates a regular collection. A commercial trade waste agreement is a contract between the business and a registered waste carrier.

You should contact a waste management company directly to set up a collection service. We have put together a waste directory to help you find a suitable provider.

Please note that the council does not recommend any of these companies. This list is provided as a source of information only. You are responsible for checking out the companies and making sure they are registered.

Commercial Information