Duty of care: the one-page sheet

Three fields, every time: the registration number, the tier, and the expiry date. An upper tier registration runs for three years and then stops; a lower tier registration does not expire. A carrier who cannot give you a number has not given you an answer.

The waste duty of care code of practice requires a copy of the waste description to be kept for two years for non-hazardous waste. Hazardous waste consignment notes are kept for three years. Keep the record of your carrier check alongside it — the note says who took the waste; the check shows they were registered, and at which tier, on that date.

A registration lapsed between collections and nobody looked. The tier was wrong for the arrangement — a broker registered lower tier, arranging collections. Or there was no record — or a paper one that cannot be found when asked.