Environmental compliance

Business waste management

Your legal duty of care for waste, waste transfer notes, and avoiding fly-tipping liability.

UK-wide
Guide summary

You must safely manage your business waste from production to disposal. Complete transfer notes for every waste collection and only use registered carriers. Breaking these rules can lead to unlimited fines or prison.

  • Store waste securely before collection
  • Complete a waste transfer note for every collection
  • Keep transfer notes for minimum 2 years
  • Check waste carriers are registered before using them
  • Fly-tipping penalties up to £1,000 fixed penalty or 5 years prison
  • Directors can be personally liable for waste offences
  • Use season tickets for regular identical waste collections
  • Hazardous waste requires consignment notes kept for 3+ years
  • Digital waste tracking becomes mandatory from April 2026
On this page
UK-wide

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You have a legal duty of care for your business waste from the moment it's produced until it's disposed of. This applies to all businesses regardless of size. Breaking these rules can lead to unlimited fines and up to 5 years in prison.

Your duty of care

Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, you must:

  • store waste safely and securely
  • only transfer waste to registered waste carriers
  • complete a waste transfer note or consignment note for each transfer
  • keep records for the required period
  • take all reasonable steps to prevent illegal disposal

Waste transfer notes

Complete a waste transfer note every time you transfer non-hazardous waste to another person. This includes when your regular waste collector takes it away.

Season tickets for regular collections

If you have regular waste collections of the same type going to the same place, use a season ticket instead of writing individual transfer notes each time.

Hazardous waste

Hazardous waste has stricter requirements. You need consignment notes instead of transfer notes, and longer record-keeping periods.

Healthcare & Social Care Requirement

Healthcare & Social Care businesses only

Healthcare providers typically exceed the 500kg hazardous waste threshold due to clinical waste, cytotoxic waste, sharps, and pharmaceutical waste. You must:

  • Register your premises with the Environment Agency before your first hazardous waste collection (£37 online)
  • Segregate clinical waste by colour-coded bags (orange for infectious, yellow for cytotoxic, purple for cytostatic)
  • Use licensed clinical waste carriers - standard waste carriers cannot handle clinical waste
  • Complete consignment notes for each collection with EWC codes (18 01 03 for infectious, 18 01 06 for cytotoxic)

Improper disposal of clinical waste can lead to regulatory action from both the Environment Agency and CQC.

Who this applies to: GP practices, dental surgeries, care homes, hospitals, pharmacies
Healthcare waste guidance (opens in a new tab)
Manufacturing & Engineering Requirement

Manufacturing & Engineering businesses only

Manufacturing businesses often produce multiple hazardous waste streams that require careful management:

  • Common hazardous wastes: Cutting oils, solvents, paints, plating solutions, chemical residues, contaminated packaging
  • Premises registration: Required if producing >500kg hazardous waste per year - most manufacturing sites exceed this
  • Packaging producer responsibility: If you handle >50 tonnes packaging AND >£2m turnover, you must register for packaging EPR
  • Plastic packaging tax: Applies if you produce/import 10+ tonnes of plastic packaging with <30% recycled content (£210.82/tonne)
Who this applies to: Factories, workshops, processing plants, chemical manufacturers
Hazardous waste guidance (opens in a new tab)

Check your waste carrier is registered

Always verify that anyone taking your waste is registered before you transfer it. You can be held liable if your waste is fly-tipped, even if you paid what looked like a legitimate company.

Digital waste tracking (from April 2026)

A new mandatory electronic system will replace paper waste transfer notes in England. This will track waste from production to final destination.

  1. 1

    Identify your waste streams

    List all waste types your business produces. Note any that may be hazardous - oils, solvents, fluorescent tubes, batteries, asbestos.

  2. 2

    Check waste carrier registration

    Before any waste transfer, verify the carrier is registered on the public register for your nation.

  3. 3

    Complete waste transfer notes

    For each non-hazardous waste transfer, complete a waste transfer note with all required information. Keep for 2 years.

  4. 4

    Use consignment notes for hazardous waste

    Hazardous waste needs consignment notes. Keep producer records for 3 years at your premises.

  5. 5

    Set up season tickets for regular collections

    For regular waste collections of the same type to the same destination, use a season ticket valid up to 12 months.

  6. 6

    Prepare for digital tracking

    From April 2026, England will require digital waste tracking. Review your current record-keeping systems.