Company Clinic

I have just started a business and I am worried about rising levels of waste legislation. How can I make sure that I am handling my waste correctly?

As a waste producer you have a legal responsibility under the duty of care law to dispose of your waste in the correct manner, ensuring that waste companies you use are authorised to take it and can transport, recycle or dispose of it safely. If you break this law, you can be fined an unlimited amount. Don't be afraid to ask for copies of waste management and carrier licenses. And make sure you keep copies of licenses, consignment notes, certificates of destruction etc.

First of all you need to carry out a waste audit to assess what types of waste your business will produce. Once you have established this you can decide whether the waste is recyclable or not. Recycling is not only environmentally friendly but can also reduce the cost of sending waste straight to landfill. Recyclable waste can be a saleable product, therefore making you money.

If your waste contains substances or properties that can be harmful to human health and the environment, this will be classed as hazardous waste which you have a duty of care to handle, store and dispose of correctly, for example chemicals and oils. If you will produce any types of hazardous waste you must register your premises with the environment agency and anyone that moves hazardous waste must fill in a consignment note so that the movement of the waste can be tracked to its final licensed disposal point.

Another area to consider is that as a company you can handle confidential information, for example customers details, on a daily basis and therefore have a legal duty under the Data Protection Act to guard this information from the moment you obtain it until its final destruction.

If you are going to transport waste as part of your business, even if you only transport waste occasionally and in small amounts, for example window fitters, gardening services etc. you will need to register as a waste carrier which can be done at the Environment Agency website. There is a cost for this but the Environment Agency is taking this very seriously now and clamping down on unregistered waste carriers and giving out fines. It is an offence to carry waste without being a registered carrier. It is also an offence for anyone else to give you there waste if you are not registered. When you are dealing with waste in your business try to keep the three R's in mind - reduce, re-use, recycle.