21/11/2005 - From today, a change in the law means that members of the public could face fines of £5,000 if they fail to take reasonable measures to ensure their waste is dealt with properly. If they give their waste to an unregistered waste-carrier and it is fly-tipped or illegally dumped, they can now be taken to court and prosecuted.

People can check is a waste carrier is registered by checking the Environment Agency’s on-line register - www.environment-agency.gov.uk/publicregister.

Recent data released as part of Defra’s fly-capture initiative showed that there were almost 100,000 incidents of fly-tipping in the Midlands in 2004/05, costing local authorities around £6.25m to clear up.

Nick King, our regional Environmental Strategy Manager, says: ‘Using an unregistered waste carrier poses a real risk to the environment, health and quality of life. Anyone producing waste has a responsibility to ensure it is disposed of properly.

‘If people give their waste to an unregistered waste carrier, it could end up in a country lane or on farmer’s land, affecting quality of life and the environment. We have had numerous cases where fly-tipped waste has been traced to people who have used unregistered carriers as a cheap option to take their waste away. We work closely with local authorities who take the lead in investigations of fly-tipping of domestic and trade waste.

‘Unregistered waste carriers can make huge sums of money by charging to take household rubbish away and dumping it illegally. If everyone takes responsibility for their own waste, we can drive out the fly-tippers and save millions of pounds for council-tax payers.’

More Information:

To use the web-site, people should enter a postcode into the web-site. They register will then provide them with a list of all registered waste carriers in that area. It would be useful that if anyone who finds a company that is not registered, they call us on 08708 506 506 to report it.

The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 (CNEA) will introduce new powers to allow the option of a fixed penalty notice of £300 for anyone failing to show adequate waste transfer note or waste carrier registration documents on demand. This measure will be commenced in April 2006. Defra is considering options for more flexible enforcement of the household duty of care.

For normal ‘refuse bin-collections’, the company employed by the local authority will be registered and householders shouldn’t have to concern themselves with this.

It is aimed at ensuring that traders, such as plumbers or builders, or people employed by householders to clear waste from their premises such as garage clearances, are legitimately authorised to take the waste away.

Checking that those you employ to take your waste away are legitimate and authorised to do so is similar to checking that other traders people employ are lawful.

The Clean Neighbourhoods and Environment Act 2005 (CNEA) will introduce new powers to allow the option of a fixed penalty notice of £300 for anyone failing to show adequate waste transfer note or waste carrier registration documents on demand. This measure will be commenced in April 2006. Defra is considering options for more flexible enforcement of the household duty of care.

For normal ‘refuse bin-collections’, the company employed by the local authority will be registered and householders shouldn’t have to concern themselves with this.

It is aimed at ensuring that traders, such as plumbers or builders, or people employed by householders to clear waste from their premises such as garage clearances, are legitimately authorised to take the waste away.

Checking that those you employ to take your waste away are legitimate and authorised to do so is similar to checking that other traders people employ are lawful.