Many people work from home, even run their own businesses from there and i am sure most diligently sort the waste produced by the business and place it in the appropriate household recycling bins. But how many realise that is in fact illegal? The fact is that under current legislation any business, no matter how small, cannot use the free household waste collection services, whether door step collection or municipal disposal sites.
The reason for this is twofold, first of all the Environment Agency is forcing businesses to take responsibility for their waste and where possible Reduce, Reuse or Recycle it by hitting their pockets by making them pay to have their waste removed. Secondly business are legally obliged to be able to demonstrate how and where their waste is being disposed by being able to produce appropriate documentation.
Business waste can only be removed from your premises by a registered waste carrier and can only then be taken to a registered disposal site, businesses are also legally obliged to ensure their waste is correctly sorted so that the maximum amount can be recycled, this is known as your Duty of Care.
Waste carriers are mainly private companies although some councils do offer a business waste service, but all will charge for it, as part of your Duty of Care you must ensure any company you use is correctly registered (Your local Environment Agency office will tell you this).
A waste carrier will supply you with Waste Transfer Notes detailing when the waste was collected and how it was disposed, you are legally obliged to keep these for three years and have them available for inspection by an Environment Agency inspector at any time during this period
I hope this helps clear up an often overlooked area of British waste legislation
