Read about business waste in other languages.

Your duty of care

All business owners have a duty of care to ensure that their waste is disposed of correctly. A business owner must be able to account for the transfer of their waste.

Failure to comply with the duty of care requirements is a criminal offence. This could result in a fixed penalty notice or if prosecuted, an unlimited fine.

All businesses produce waste

All waste generated from a commercial activity is business waste.

This includes post and junk mail, damaged or old equipment, packaging from deliveries, food and drink eaten by staff (including packaging), cleaning materials and office paper.

Business waste also includes any waste that comes from:

  • construction
  • demolition
  • industry
  • agriculture.

View our trade waste leaflet

Your responsibilities

Your responsibilities include:

  • keeping waste to a minimum by doing everything you can to prevent, reuse, recycle or recover waste
  • storing and presenting your waste securely, so that it does not cause litter or attract vermin
  • using a waste carrier or disposal site that is registered with the Environment Agency. If you do not, you could be prosecuted under the Environmental Protection Act 1990. View a list of landfill sites and other waste facilities where you can take your commercial waste. You can contact the Environment Agency on 08708 506 506
  • keeping all your contract and transfer records for a minimum of 2 years
  • giving these records to the relevant authority if requested.

Business waste and Medway’s waste and recycling services

The cost of waste disposal is not included in your Business Rates. Businesses must make their own arrangements to collect and dispose of their waste.

You cannot take your business waste home with you. Taking it home with you, or asking staff to do so, does not meet the requirements of your duty of care.

Household waste and recycling centres are only for the disposal of domestic waste. These facilities are not for the disposal of waste generated by businesses.

You can also read about business waste in the following languages: