Duty of care and waste transfer notes

Section 34 requires anyone who produces, imports, keeps, treats or disposes of controlled waste to take all measures reasonable in the circumstances to prevent it escaping, and to transfer it only to an authorised person. An authorised person includes a registered waste carrier.

The practical effect is that checking the carrier is part of the duty, not an optional extra. If your waste ends up fly-tipped, the fact that someone else dumped it does not by itself discharge your responsibility.

A waste transfer note records what the waste was, how much of it there was, who handed it over, who took it, when, and where. Both parties keep a copy for at least two years. For a regular collection from the same producer to the same carrier, a season ticket covering up to twelve months of transfers is permitted rather than a note per load.

The note should carry the carrier's registration number. That is what makes a note checkable after the fact, and it is the single most useful thing to insist on at the point of collection.

A file of transfer notes with no registration numbers on them proves very little. A file of notes each carrying a number you checked on the day is a considerably better record of having taken reasonable measures.

This is a description of what the legislation and the statutory code of practice say. It is not legal advice, and it does not cover every circumstance.