waste carrier registration

[stevew]

Before getting on the phone to the Environment agency I wonder if anyone here has managed to successfully interpret the current waste disposal regulations? I own a period property and, like many of you here, I am also a tradesman that works on them for a living. I understand my duty of care as a homeowner to ensure that my waste is disposed of legally i.e., by a properly registered carrier (could be a £5000 fine for you if your waste is found fly-tipped somewhere!) What I am not so sure about, even after much Internet scouring, is if I need to fork out £150 and register with the Environment Agency as a waste carrier myself? If I intended to transport other peoples’ waste, for profit, then it is clear that I would need to. If I undertake a job that generates a lot of waste then I get a skip and pass the cost on to the customer. Where things start to get a bit grey, for example, is if I were to fit a new door for someone. As I believe I understand it I would need to be registered to take away the old door as this would be classed as waste produced by the customer (someone else), however, the waste generated by myself in the fitting of the door e.g., empty screw packets, packaging and some wood shavings, could legally be transported off-site – I think? Or perhaps I do need to be registered to transport commercial waste in the form of an empty packet of screws? Perhaps I could just leave it for the customer to dispose of? However: “All contractors should remove the waste they produce when carrying out any work on your property. They are legally obliged to do this under Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. If you let them place their waste in your grey wheeled bin you may also be guilty of an offence by causing them to evade their legal duty of not declaring the waste generated from the work as “commercial waste”. (Quote Oldham Council Website). Perhaps not then, in fact I couldn’t take the packet home and put it in my bin or take it to the local refuse amenity site either. I would have to take it to my nearest (about 6 miles) commercial waste disposal site, pay the minimum charge (about £45 for half a ton), and complete a waste transfer note that I would have to keep in my records for 2 years. I couldn’t even save up enough empty packets to make up half a ton because then I would have to register my home a waste handling site! I was unaware of the complexity of the regulations until the other day when I received a letter from the EA stating that I ‘may’ need to register, and with the possibility of a £5000 fine if I were found to be an ‘illegal’ waste carrier. As you can probably guess their helpful leaflet entitled “Do I need to register as a waste carrier?” wasn’t! The spirit of the law in this case is laudable i.e., to stop fly-tipping and environmental damage, however, the interpretation and application is a nightmare.

 

[biffvernon]

Hmmm...don't quote me. I don't know anything for sure, but I did look into this a while ago (I'm in a similar position) and determined that I did not need to register as a waste carrier to carry home the stuff generated on my joinery jobs.

 

[skier-hughes]

We had a chap come from environmental health to give us a talk on waste, fly tipping etc and you do have to register if you carry trade waste, so Biff needs to if he takes a few pieces of wood away from a job, a roofer needs to if he takes home a few pieces of felt, an electrician needs to if he takes home a few pieces of cable and a plumber would need to if he took home 1" of waste pipe, etc etc
Sounds absolutely crap to me, but hey, you could always argue that it isn't waste it is spare parts for your next job.
It's very hot round here, as we live in a rural area surrounded by some very built up urban areas and people travel to us to fly tip.
I had an arguement with the local council over a very large car bumper and spoiler which was left half in the road and pavement after an accident.
I moved it to our driveway.
The council wouldn't come and collect it as it was on private ground.
Common sense that where it was, was safe from causing further accidents, didn't appear to get anywhere to them.
Eventually I told them I would put it back on the road wehre I found it, but now I was putting it there, so I would be prosecuted for fly tipping and also if there was an accident.
In the end got my local councillor to sort it out.
Never again, leave for someone else :roll:

 

[MdB]

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/business/sectors/wastecarriers.aspx

Carriers

Unless you qualify for an exemption, if you want to transport controlled waste in England and Wales as part of your business or with a view to profit, you need to register as a waste carrier. However, you don't need to do this if:

* you are carrying waste that you have produced, unless it is building or demolition waste;

So I don't need to register the waste I carry as part of my work (not that there is a lot of it) but builders do (or at least should). Sounds crazy to me too.

 

[wobs]

We had a chap come from environmental health to give us a talk on waste, fly tipping etc and you do have to register if you carry trade waste, so Biff needs to if he takes a few pieces of wood away from a job, a roofer needs to if he takes home a few pieces of felt, an electrician needs to if he takes home a few pieces of cable and a plumber would need to if he took home 1" of waste pipe, etc etc
Sounds absolutely crap to me, but hey, you could always argue that it isn't waste it is spare parts for your next job.

Now you're getting into the realms of what is and isn't a waste. Now there's an issue that makes lawyers rich.