Duty of Care

All businesses produce waste and all waste produced by your business is regulated by waste laws. Duty of Care comes under Part 2 - Waste on Land of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

You have a legal responsibility to ensure that you produce, store, transport and dispose of your business waste without harming the environment. This is called your Duty of Care.

Therefore, as a business you have a Duty of Care to ensure all the waste produced by your organisation is handled safely in accordance with the law and anyone disposing of your waste should have an appropriate license to do so.

Once waste leaves your site you MUST obtain a complete waste transfer note,  which documents the waste you transfer. Your organisation should keep general WTN's for least two years, hazardous (Consignment Note) for three years. If a waste carrier takes your waste away, you may also need to check that the site it is taken to is authorised to accept it.

Glossary of Terms go back.