What is the duty of care for waste?

As a business, 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.

The duty of care has no time limit. You are specifically responsible for your waste from when you produce it until you have transferred it to an authorised person. However, your duty does not end when you hand over the waste to the next holder. It extends along the entire chain of management of your waste. If you think that your waste is not being managed correctly you must take action to check and prevent this.

What you must do

You must:

segregate, store and transport your waste appropriately and securely, making sure that you do not cause any pollution or harm to human health
take all reasonable steps to apply the waste hierarchy to the management of waste. See Choosing a waste management option (the waste hierarchy)
present food waste, waste oils, and key dry recyclable wastes such as glass, metals, plastics, paper and card for separate collection. From 31 March 2027, this will also include recyclable plastic film and flexible packaging
take steps to maintain the quality of these dry recyclables presented for recycling, such as avoiding contamination by non-target materials
check that your waste is transported and handled by people or businesses that are authorised to do so
complete waste transfer notes, including a full, accurate description of the waste, to document all waste you transfer, and keep them as a record for at least two years. See the page in this guideline: Waste Transfer Notes and how to complete them
complete consignment notes for movements of hazardous/special waste. See Using consignment notes for Hazardous/special waste
describe the waste accurately and provide information for the safe handling, transport, treatment recovery or disposal

You should check that anyone who transports, treats, or disposes of your waste is authorised to accept it. See:

Food businesses

A food business is any business that carries out activities related to the processing, distribution, preparation or sale of food. Examples include:

restaurants and cafes
shopping centre food courts
canteens
hotels
pubs that serve food
shops that sell food
supermarkets
schools and colleges
prisons, nursing homes and hospitals.

If you are a food business, you must be prepared to present food waste for separate collection.

Exempt businesses

you produce less than 5kg of food waste per week
you deal with catering waste from international transport (Category 1 animal by-products) where existing controls still apply.
In Scotland, your premises are in a rural area (as defined by the Scottish Government) See: Scottish Government: Defining rural and non-rural areas to support zero waste policies

The use of macerators to dispose of food waste in the sewer system is now banned, except for domestic premises, and for food producers in rural areas of Scotland.

Transporters of waste

In Northern Ireland, if you ‘normally and regularly’ transport waste as part of your business, you must be registered as a waste carrier with the NIEA.

If you transport your own construction or demolition waste, you must register as an upper tier waste carrier.

If you are not certain whether you should be registered NIEA can help you.

NIEA: Registered waste carriers / transporters

NIEA provides guidance on what is meant by the term ‘normally and regularly’ in the glossary of the terms of the following Duty of Care code of practice.

NIEA: Duty of Care code of practice

In Scotland, if you transport waste, you must have a transporting waste registration authorisation from SEPA and comply with your duty of care.

There is a fee for transporting waste and acting as a broker or dealer registration authorisations and these authorisations must be renewed every three years (renewal fees apply).

If you normally and regularly transport waste produced by your own business, you must have a transporting your own waste registration authorisation.

There is no fee for the "transporting your own waste" registration, but you must renew it every three years.

SEPA: Transporting your own waste

If your business carries out work at private households any waste you produce is classed as business waste and this guidance will apply to this waste. This includes waste you collect when you deliver new items.

Waste transporters (carriers), brokers and dealers

If you use contactors who create waste on your site it is good practice to ensure that your contract clarifies who has responsibility for the waste.

In Northern Ireland, the NIEA has produced a short guide to the duty of care responsibilities including advice and information for waste producers, carriers and those accepting, storing and treating waste.

NIEA: Duty of Care - a short guide

Other waste types

Further Information

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