Skip to content

Legal obligations

Date updated: 11/01/2023

Duty of care

All businesses have a Duty of Care to the environment and to human health. You are responsible for your waste from when you produce it until you have transferred it to an authorised person.

All businesses produce waste and your company has a legal responsibility to ensure that you produce, store, transport and dispose of your business waste without harming the environment. This is called your Duty of Care (DoC) and makes up part of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (Section 34) and the Environmental Protection Act (Duty of Care) Regulations 1991.

As part of this DoC you must ensure that you store your waste securely so that it does not escape (tie up bags, flatten boxes, close bin lids). You must also ensure your waste is transported by an authorised business, and a Waste Transfer Note (WTN) is completed for every transfer of waste OR for a specified period. The WTN must be kept on record for at least two years.

Right Waste, Right Place​

For practical advice on meeting your Duty of Care obligations, please visit the Right Place, Right Waste website.

Waste storage

Free advice is available to waste producers, developers, architects and planners on waste storage and treatment and the disposal of hazardous and intractable waste. Please call 020 7606 3110.

For more information