England – householders must take responsibility for waste or risk fines

New changes to waste regulations in England will help reduce the thousands of tonnes of household waste being fly-tipped each year, according to the Government‘‘s Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra).



Last year, there were 500,000 fly-tips of household rubbish; much of which was dumped by operators posing as legitimate waste carriers. However, from November 21, all householders in England will have a responsibility, under the waste ‘‘Duty of Care‘‘, to ensure their rubbish is passed on to authorised carriers only. And those householders not taking reasonable measures to do so, could face fines of up to £5,000.



Registered waste carriers, other than the local council, can now be found online thanks to a new ‘‘waste carrier register‘‘, set up by the Environment Agency.



Announcing the changes to the Duty of Care regulations for waste, Local Environment Minister, Ben Bradshaw, encouraged anyone using a private waste carrier to look at the register, or call their local Environment Agency office.



"Fly-tippers rely on people not asking questions, and not checking for registration – but now all householders have a responsibility to ask those questions, and check for that registration. Waste cowboys can make huge sums of money by charging to take household rubbish away illegally, before dumping it over the nearest hedge. If that rubbish is traced back to the household it came from, the householder could now be fined."



However, Mr Bradshaw highlighted that the changes were not in place to ‘‘scare people‘‘, but to provide another check in the fight to prevent fly-tipping.



"Using their new powers under the Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act, both local authorities and the Environment Agency are working hard to catch fly-tippers, but they need help. If everyone takes responsibility for their own waste, we can cut the supply to the fly-tippers and drive them out of business – in turn saving council taxpayers millions of pounds."



Last year, councils spent almost £1m a week clearing up fly-tips, over half of which were household rubbish; rubbish that could have been disposed of at the nearest tip – free of charge.



Councillor David Sparks, Chair of the Local Government Association‘‘s Environment Board said:



"All household waste can still be disposed of at tips free of charge. And for residents unable to take bulky waste to the tip themselves, most councils offer a subsidised, or free, collection service."



However, for those using waste carriers other than the council to remove household, garden or construction waste, the Environment Agency suggests the following check:



Consider whether the contractor falls into one of the following categories: all building and allied trades; landscape gardeners, tree fellers and surgeons; house clearers; retail establishments; and scrap metal dealers. These are occupations that will normally need a waste carrier registration