As of January 2014, the law changed for the carriage of waste. If you should register for a waste carriers licence but don’t, you could be fined up to £5,000.
It’s long been known that waste can damage the environment and impact human health if it’s not properly managed. In 2014, changes to the law relating to businesses carrying waste aim to further protect the environment and discourage fly-tipping.
The regulations on the carriage of waste mean that anyone transporting waste as part of their normal business (whether it’s their waste or someone else’s) has to register for a Waste Carriers Licence. This includes contractors like carpet fitters carrying old carpet, plumbers carrying old sinks, landscape gardeners carrying shrubs or trees and builders carrying rubble and plaster.
And you don’t have to have produced the waste to need a licence. Being contracted by an individual to demolish an outbuilding and remove the waste still means that you have to register.
There are two tiers of registration, based on your organisation type and the type of waste you deal with. The lower tier is free and typically covers businesses which transport waste that they have generated from a job that they have done. All other carriers need to register for the upper tier, which costs £154 (VAT exempt) for three years, and then £105 (VAT exempt) for the next three years.
Register for a licence here.
