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What is commercial waste?
Anything you or your business owns, or produces, or intends to throw away or anything abandoned on land.
Your responsibilities under the Environmental Protection Act 1990
The Act states clearly the duties of every person producing, collecting, carrying or disposing of waste.
Duty of Care Regulations - Section 33 and 34
All individuals have a 'duty of care' to make sure that their waste is collected and disposed of safely and legally. The only
exception is that of a householder who can take their own waste to a household waste site.
The Act allows people or authorities to take legal action against anyone who fails to safely dispose of, store, carry or treat waste.
Fines are unlimited and anyone found guilty of breaking the law can also face imprisonment. Most residents of the city comply with environmental law and appreciate the benefits of dealing with waste responsibly.
However, many people deliberately leave waste anywhere. The most common offences are:
- Fly-tipping, or abandoning waste on land other than their own.
- Handing waste to a person not authorised or licensed to collect it.
- Hiding business or non-household waste in domestic refuse.
- Depositing business or non-household waste at waste recycling centres.
- Unauthorised disposal of waste including oil into sewers and drains.
- Allowing waste to escape, by exposure to weather, by interference from others, or by burning or littering.
No matter where we live, we all pay for waste both financially and environmentally. For this reason we take legal action against people who commit any of the above offences. In each case the producer of the waste is liable.
Waste produced in the course of any activity for gain or reward, whether on business or domestic premises, while self employed or working for others is classed as business waste. It is an offence to dispose of it at household waste recycling sites or through the domestic refuse collection service.
Duty of Care Waste Transfer Notes
All businesses must be able to produce at least two years worth of (Duty of Care) Waste Transfer Notes. These are a simple
record of who produced the waste, where it was from and who collected it. You must keep a copy of this note for
a minimum of two years.
Waste collection services
Most businesses have their waste collected on a weekly basis by the same contractor. This enables the business to enter into
a trade waste agreement on one annual Waste Transfer Note. Waste contractors include local authorities, national and
local companies and individual registered waste carriers.
The collection of business waste, as prescribed by the Act, must be carried out in a competitive market and the city council does provide a trade waste collection service.
There is no obligation on any business to enter into an agreement with the city council and any registered waste contractor may remove your waste provided that you have completed a 'Duty of Care Waste Transfer Note'.
Storing waste
You must store your waste bagged or contained in a safe place until the day of collection. If you suspect your waste may be
interferred with you must lock it away. You must not leave waste in the street any earlier than the evening before
your collection day.
Transporting waste
Businesses may carry their own waste to an appropriate licensed site, but must complete a waste transfer note on each
occasion. Household waste recycling sites are not licensed to accept business waste.
In order to carry waste for another person or business you must first be registered as a waste carrier (contact Environment Agency) and have a waste carriers licence and a waste transfer note for the load you are carrying. All waste on open vehicles must be sheeted.
More information
For information about our commercial waste container options please use the link from this page. If you need advice on
our waste management services or about the Environmental Protection Act and related matters, please contact us at
wastemanagement@stoke.gov.uk.
To find out more about our commercial waste prices please email trade.waste@stoke.gov.uk.