Business fined £300 for getting rid of its trade waste in the wrong place

  A Harston business has been fined £300 for disposing of their trade waste at a Household Waste Recycling Centre.    

South Cambridgeshire District Council were told the business was disposing trade waste themselves at a Household Waste Recycling Centre instead of through the required legal channels of using a registered trade waste contractor.   

Following a short investigation, the company was contacted and asked to produce their documentation for the previous two years relating to all waste generated as part of their business.     

The business admitted that they had no agreement in place so was issued with a Fixed Penalty Notice for £300, reduced to £180 for prompt payment. They also provided details of a new agreement with a registered waste carrier that was put in place due to the investigation.

Under environmental laws, all businesses are required to have their waste collected by an Environment Agency registered waste contractor, completing a Waste Transfer Note, which confirms safe disposal, for each load of waste that leaves their premises.  This paperwork must be kept for a minimum of 2 years and produced on request. If these checks or paperwork are not completed, and waste is allowed to be taken away by unlicensed carriers, it can lead to fines and a criminal record. All residents using a contractor to remove rubbish from their homes also have the same duty of care.  

South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Lead Cabinet Member for Environment, Cllr Brian Milnes, said: “Both businesses and residents must make sure their rubbish is being taken away by a licensed contractor on the Environment Agency’s register. This way, you can be confident that your waste will not end up dumped. Cutting off the supply of waste to non-registered carriers is an important step to preventing fly-tipping.”  

If you witness someone fly-tipping, call the police on 999 and report it as an environmental crime in progress. All envirocrime should be reported through our website in the "Report it" section and scrolling down to "Environment".