• Home
  • Foreword
• Introduction
  • Acknowledgements and contributors
  • Using the guide
  • Abbreviations
  • Who should use the guide
  • What is HHW?
  • Data on the number of HWRCs accepting trade waste and tonnage data
  • Dealing with trade waste
  • Waste Strategy for England
  • Local authority waste pages
  • Business resource efficiency and waste advice
• Legislation
• Definition of waste
• The European Waste Catalogue (EWC)
• The Hazardous Waste Regulations
• What is hazardous waste
• The Hazardous Waste Regulations (and domestic waste)
• Asbestos
• Seperately collected fractions
• The Hazardous Waste Regulations (and business waste)
• Premises notification
• Site inspections
• Consignment notes and acceptance at transfer stations
• Record keeping, inventory and consignee returns
• Duty of care
• Health and safety
• Environmental permitting
• Landfill
• Staff competencies
• Ozone Depleting Substances Regulations
• Restriction of Hazardous Substances Regulations
• International shipment of waste
• Manufacture and use of chemicals
• Regulations in the devolved administrations
  • Scotland
  • Northern Ireland
  • Cross-UK border issues
• European legislation in development
• Producer responsibility
  • Batteries
  • Waste Electronic and Electrical Equipment(WEEE)
  • End of Life Vehicles (ELV)
  • Decorative paint
• Key issues
  • Contracts and service specifications
  • Risk assessments
  • Site security
  • Segregating HHW from households
  • Minimum service provision
  • Separation of HHW items from mixed waste containers
  • Disposal costs
  • The Chemicals (Hazard Information and Packaging for Supply) (Amendment) CHIP Regulations 2005
  • Staff competences and training
  • Communication with householders and businesses
    • Signage
    • Verbal communication
    • Leaflets, press releases and websites
• Acceptance and storage of household hazardous type waste
  • Storage and segregation options
  • Asbestos
  • Automotive batteries
  • Clinical waste
  • Explosives
  • Fire extinguishers
  • Gas bottles
  • Household and garden chemicals
  • Household batteries
  • Motoring products
  • Oil and oil filters
  • Paints and related products
  • Waste Electrical Electronic Equipment (WEEE)
  • Fluorescent lighting tubes (gas discharge lamps)
  • Cooling appliances containing refrigerants (fridges and freezers)
  • Display equipment containing cathode ray tubes (TVs and monitors)
  • Smoke alarms
  • Other problematic wastes
  • Aerosols
  • Radioactive wastes
  • Tyres
  • Vegetable oil
• Key issues for businesses
  • Duty of care
  • Storing and managing hazardous waste at your site
  • Transfer and transportation
  • Using electronic consignment notes
  • SMEs and the Landfill Regulations
  • Asbestos
    • Asbestos in the construction and building trades
    • Businesses that own/occupy bulidings containing asbestos
  • Portable batteries
  • Automotive batteries
  • Vehicle owners and operators
  • Clinical Waste
  • Fire extinguishers
  • Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE)
    • Producers of EEE
    • Distributors of EEE
    • End users of EEE
    • Fluorescent lighting tubes (gas discharge lamps)
    • Cooling appliances containing refrigerants (fridges and freezers)
  • Gas cylinders
  • Chemicals and solvents
  • Tyres
  • Motoring products (including oil)
  • Paint
  • Vegetable oil
  • Potential support and solutions for buisness
• Case studies
• Minimising trade abuse at Haverton Hill HWRC
• Managing HHW at Redbridge Household Waste Recycling Centre
• Communicating with SMEs
• Accepting SME wastes in West Sussex
  • Managing hazardous WEEE, specifically TVs and fridges
  • Acccepting household type WEEE from Businesses
• Collecting IT WEEE from business in Scotland
• Distributor Take Back Scheme (WEEE)
• Battery collections
• Hampshire County Council's Waste Acceptance Policy
• Cost of collecting chemicals and other HHW at HWRCs
• Communication with the public on HHW issues
• Corporation of London householder and SME collection
• Dealing with traders at Durham County Council HWRCs
• Fly-tipping
• Private sector collections from SMEs
• Community RePaint
• Case Studies available on external websites
• Links
• Household Hazardous Type Waste Products List

The Environmental Protection Act 1990 Section 51(1) imposes a duty on each waste disposal authority (WDA) to arrange for the disposal of asbestos waste collected in its area by waste collection authorities. In addition, the Act requires that each WDA should provide places where residents may deposit asbestos waste from domestic sources free of charge. In other words, all WDAs must provide facilities for acceptance of asbestos waste at one or more of their HWRCs. This point is emphasised by Defra, when guidance on this matter was re-issued in October 2004. The guidance, and the accompanying covering letter are available here.

The information presented below relates only to bonded asbestos. It does not cover fibrous (non-bonded) asbestos used for insulation (e.g. pipe lagging) or most loosely bonded asbestos (asbestos cord, asbestos cloth etc). The HSE has provided useful guidance on the safe handling of asbestos waste at HWRCs.

This guidance must be taken into consideration with the Control of Asbestos Regulations 2006, which came into force on 13 November 2006. These regulations integrate three previous sets of legislation covering the prohibition, control and licensing of asbestos. 

Local authorities should follow the guidance and regulations. A brief summary of safe reception of asbestos in the guidance is given below, this relates specifically to the safe reception of asbestos cement waste on site:

• members of the public should be encouraged to make prior arrangements before delivering asbestos to HWRC’s or other suitable council sites
• the asbestos should be double bagged, or double wrapped before being delivered to site
• deliveries should be checked by staff who are trained in asbestos recognition and handling
• guidance should be given to householders to ensure they do not break or cut asbestos cement in order to fit it into bags. Instead they should be encouraged to wrap it in plastic sheeting and damp the sheeting to prevent the release of cement fibres
  dedicated skips for asbestos should only store asbestos. Skips should be cleaned out to remove all visible debris once emptied, at the permitted site. Any waste water from this process should be filtered and any residue should be disposed of as asbestos cement waste. Local authorities should ensure their contractor has these procedures in place
• materials to deal with any spillages or unauthorised dumping of asbestos waste, such as bags and sheeting should be available at HWRCs
• the container door should be dampened prior to opening and contents dampened to avoid dust being created when new material is added to the skip
  materials should be placed carefully in the skip to avoid risk of disturbing dust and becoming airborne. Waste should be placed in the skip as gently as possible
  once waste has been added the container should be dampened again and the container closed and locked
• all staff should have an understanding of the guidance and regulations covering asbestos waste
• suitable training should be given to ensure competency on this issue, more information is available from the HSE guide
• appropriate signage should be used to ensure the public notify site staff before unloading
• skips/containers should be lockable and kept locked when not in immediate use
• skips should be appropriately labelled
• asbestos containers/skips should be located remotely from other skips, where reasonably practicable
• adequate and appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE) should be used and available
• hoses with a suitable sprinkler should be used to dampen down containers
  all required details and records should be kept.

This advice does not cover friable asbestos waste, such as lagging. Local authorities should have a policy and emergency plan for dealing with these types of non-bounded asbestos if they are brought to HWRCs.