• 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

Around 1 million tonnes of oily wastes are collected each year1 representing 20% of all hazardous waste arisings. After processing to remove water and solids, 350,000 tonnes of waste oil remains(2). Oil is the most commonly reported cause of waste pollution, with over 5,000 incidents recorded annually. Even a small quantity can cause a lot of damage to the environment and threaten human health.

It is estimated that domestic waste oil arisings (primarily used car engine oil) account for 10% of total waste oil collections. Around 60% of HWRCs currently provide facilities for recovery of waste oil. The Oil Care Campaign gives advice on storing, using and disposing of oil safely to reduce pollution.

Waste oil storage is regulated under environmental permitting regulations, and in most cases is exempt from the Oil Storage Regulations. However, if containers with a capacity of more than 200 litres are installed on an HWRC, the Control of Pollution (Oil Storage) (England) Regulations 2001 may apply. Local authorities and their contractors should consult local Environment Agency officials to determine if this is the case, and should consult Environment Agency guidance as to design of storage facilities.

If the Oil Storage Regulations do not apply, the storage of oil will be regulated in permit conditions through the environmental permitting system.

The following good practice guidance should be followed in designing storage facilities:

• locate the store where it is unlikely to be damaged by moving vehicles, using crash barriers where necessary
• do not store oil within 10 metres of a watercourse or 50 metres of a well or borehole
• make sure all oil containers are on an impervious base and surrounded with an oil-tight bund wall
• make sure that if the container fails, all of the oil will be held in the bund. The secondary containment system must provide storage of at least 110% of the tanks maximum capacity. If more than one container is stored, the system must be capable of storing 110% of the biggest container’s capacity or 25% of the total tank capacity within the bund, whichever is the greater.
• consider whether it is practicable to roof the bunded area to prevent the accumulation of rainwater
• do not put any drains in the bund
• remove any water from the bund by bailing or pumping via a manually controlled system
• the water may be contaminated and should be disposed of as hazardous waste unless you are absolutely sure that it is not hazardous. If it is not hazardous waste, you must still dispose of it in accordance with Duty of Care obligations.

Further guidance, including advice on constructed bunded oil tanks is available on the Environment Agency website.

Waste oil filters can be recycled and a number of companies operate collection and recycling services, although most of these services are designed for commercial garages. Waste oil filters can be collected on HWRCs in simple containers, such as a wheeled bin; however, oil filters contain residual oil and storage containers should therefore be sited in a bunded area.

The European Commission is reviewing the waste directives and has proposed the repeal and integration of the Waste Oils Directive and the Hazardous Waste Directive into the revised Waste Framework Directive. Consideration is being given as part of the review to repeal of the requirement to give priority to the regeneration of waste oil.