Your responsibility as a business
Businesses have legal duties when handling waste. Business waste is any waste produced from commercial activity. If you run a business from part of your home, any waste from that area is also classed as business waste.
You must:
- reduce waste as much as possible by preventing, reusing, recycling or recovering materials
- sort and store waste safely and securely
- complete a waste transfer note for every load that leaves your premises
- check that your waste carrier is properly registered
- make sure your waste is not disposed of illegally
What you must not do
You must not:
- burn waste
- take business waste home and put it in your household bin
- put business waste in public litter bins
- dispose of waste at domestic tidy tips or household recycling centres
Waste transfer notes
For every load of waste sent off your premises, you need a waste transfer note or another document containing the same information, such as an invoice. Both your business and the waste carrier must complete the relevant sections, sign the document, keep a copy for two years and provide it to the council or the Environment Agency if requested.
You can use a single note for each collection or a contract that covers regular, similar collections, for example a weekly bin collection over 12 months.
Failure to produce waste transfer notes is an offence. Visit GOV.UK for more information about disposing of business or commercial waste.
Failure to follow these legal requirements may result in a fixed penalty notice or prosecution.