Trade Waste

From 31 March 2025 regulations changed for workplace recycling in England. All workplaces with more than 10 full time employees have a legal duty to separate their waste for disposal.

Waste needs to be separated into different streams:

• Dry mixed recycling 
• Cardboard and paper
• Food waste
• General waste (non-recyclable waste)

If these new regulations are not complied with businesses are at risk of receiving a compliance notice from the Environment Agency.

Legal responsibilty for business

If you run a business, you have a legal responsibility for the safe disposal of your waste.

Businesses must ensure that their commercial waste is:

• removed by a registered carrier of waste. It is the responsibility of a business to check that the person removing their waste is licensed. This could be a private company or East Herts Council who offer a commercial collection service as the Waste Collection Authority (WCA). Businesses who employ unlicensed waste carriers to dispose of their waste are committing an offence. Unlicensed waste carriers can be responsible for fly-tipping (e.g. dumping waste) which can pose dangers to public health, wildlife and the environment.
• described fully and accurately on a document called a Waste Transfer Note (WTN) - providing details of the waste. The purpose of this is to ensure that anybody who comes into contact with it knows what the waste is and whether it is safe to handle. The WTN must be signed by both the producer and the carrier and copies are required to be kept by both parties for a minimum of two years. The Council can serve a legal Notice to the business requiring them to provide copies of the WTN for a specific period. If you do not dispose of your waste legally you could face fixed penalty fines of up to £300 or fines of up to £5000 if you are prosecuted in a magistrate’s court. Unlimited fines can be imposed if the case goes to Crown Court.
• kept safe. If waste includes substances that may be hazardous, for example chemicals or drugs, the person who removes the waste must be informed of any potential risks and be qualified to remove it.

For more information on duty of care responsibilities, visit Right Waste Right Place.
You may not take your business waste home, put it in street litter bins, or dispose of your recycling in public recycling banks. These are illegal disposal routes.

The two main waste and recycling laws which affect businesses are:

• The Environmental Protection Act 1990 Section 34
• The Landfill Regulations

The Environmental Protection Act 1990 sets out your duty of care with regard to disposal of your waste. This duty of care applies to any business which produces, imports, keeps/stores, transports, treats or disposes of waste. The safest way to achieve this is by using a registered waste carrier.

Our commercial waste collection services

Our commercial waste collection service is available to all large or small companies for the disposal of their commercial waste on a contractual basis.

We provide bins, boxes or sacks as containers for your waste which can be collected fortnightly, weekly or more than once a week.

As part of our service for businesses we offer the following sized bins: