Waste brokers' responsibilities

If you arrange the collection, recycling, recovery or disposal of controlled waste on behalf of another person, without ever taking possession of or storing the waste, you must register as a waste broker or dealer with the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA) or Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA).

To work out if you need to register see the page in this guide: Waste brokers or dealers - who needs to register.

What you must do

Comply with the Duty of Care for Waste

As a dealer or broker of waste you jointly share a responsibility with the waste producer to ensure that you comply with the requirements of the Duty of Care. You have a legal responsibility to ensure that, where you produce waste, or where you broker waste, you;

  • apply the waste hierarchy
  • in Scotland, from 1 Jan 2014, ensure that recyclable materials are handled in a way that promotes high quality recycling
  • only pass your waste to those authorised to accept it
  • describe the waste accurately and compete a transfer note for any transfer of waste
  • store, transport and manage your waste without harming the environment.

Check if you need a waste management licence to store waste

If you store other people's waste on your own site you must be authorised to do so by a waste management licence.

If you already have a waste management licence, you do not need to register as a waste broker if you arrange for someone else's waste to be disposed of or stored on the site covered by the licence. If you arrange for someone else's waste to be sent to a site that is not covered by your licence, you must register as a waste broker.

For information on storing waste safely, see the page on storing waste correctly in our guideline: Duty of care - your waste responsibilities.

Check the register of waste carriers, brokers and dealers

Make sure all waste carriers, brokers and dealers you pass waste on to are registered or exempt.

Use waste transfer or consignment notes

Whenever you accept waste from someone, or pass waste to someone, you must ensure that the transfer is covered by a waste transfer note (WTN), or a hazardous waste consignment note. You must keep copies of waste transfer notes for two years and consignment notes for three years.

See the page on completing waste transfer notes in our guideline: Duty of care - your waste responsibilities.

See the page on moving and transferring hazardous waste in our guideline: Hazardous/special waste.

You can get application forms to register as a carrier or broker from the NIEA or SEPA.

Good practice

Be aware of the nature of the waste you are dealing with and ensure that:

  • the waste producer uses appropriate containment or packaging for the waste
  • the waste is accurately described on the waste transfer note
  • only registered waste carriers, or waste carriers who have a registered exemption, move the waste
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