Key issues for businesses - Duty of Care
All businesses have a ‘Duty of Care’ to ensure that any waste produced is handled safely and within the law. It applies to anyone who produces, imports, transports, stores, treats or disposes of controlled waste. Commercial, industrial and household wastes (including hazardous wastes) are classified as ‘controlled waste’. The duty of care also applies to anyone that acts as a waste broker. The duty of care has no time limit and extends until the waste has either been finally disposed of or fully recovered.
As an end user, a business must check that waste is passed on to someone that authorised to take it. If a business does not check the contractor is authorised and the waste is illegally disposed of, the business could be held responsible. Organisations that waste may be passed on to include:
- waste contractors
- scrap metal merchants
- recycling companies
- your local council
- skip hire companies.
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