Licensed waste carriers

If you are a householder or a businesses working with waste, you have a duty of care to ensure that your waste is managed properly. The law requires anyone dealing with waste to keep it safe, make sure it’s dealt with responsibly and only given to businesses authorised to take it.

The duty of care requirements (PDF) apply to household, industrial and commercial waste.

Businesses

If your business or service transports, buys, sells or disposes of waste you must register as a waste carrier.

Householders

If you are a householder, you must take all reasonable measures to ensure your household waste is only disposed of by an authorised person or business.

If you are arranging for a tradesman (e.g. builder, landscape gardener, carpet fitter) to carry out work on your property, you are responsible for disposing of any waste produced.

You can be prosecuted and fined if you have not taken all reasonable measures to meet your obligations. This includes if:

• the person who takes the waste from you is not authorised to do so
• your waste is illegally disposed of (e.g. fly-tipped)

You can check if a waste carrier is registered using the Environment Agency's online search facility.