Trade Waste Information
All businesses are required by law to take out a trade waste contract to collect and dispose of business waste.
You will shortly be receiving a leaflet explaining the basic requirements of the contract and what you need to put in place.
For more detailed information, please check the questions below. If these do not answer your question, please contact Nikki.Carr@retailbirmingham.co.uk
Please remember that if you are located within a shopping centre, your landlord or managing agent should have trade waste arrangements in place, and you should contact them with queries in the first instance.
What items will be collected?
Providing you have a trade waste contract in place, and sufficient resources to safely and securely put your waste out for collection, most business waste will be collected Any personal paperwork should be shredded to comply with data protection.
If you have a bag contract, all bags should be ones provided by your contractor and tied securely. Black bags cannot be used for businesses to dispose of their waste, as they are for household waste only.
If you have a bin, you will need to ensure that your waste is held securely in the bin until it is collected. Please ensure that you do not overfill the bin, as this causes difficulty when emptying.
What items won’t be collected?
Most contractors will not take items deemed as hazardous waste. See below for more information.
What classes as hazardous waste?
Most contractors will not take hazardous waste. This includes items such as asbestos, televisions, computer monitors, paint, fridges, lead acid batteries, fluorescent tubes, chemicals (including cleaning fluids), laser and ink jet cartridges, glass, cooking oil and metal work.
What classes as confidential waste, and how do I correctly dispose of it?
Confidential waste is classed as any paperwork or information relating to personal data of individuals, or organisations. Under the Data Protection Act it is the responsibility of the organisation holding the data to dispose of this in an appropriate way. It is therefore recommended that all personal paperwork is shredded when discarded, and bagged up to be collected by your contractor.
What if I discover asbestos in the building and need to arrange for its removal?
Please contact the Health and Safety Executive on 0845 345 0055 or via the website on http://www.hse.gov.uk/ for further instruction on dealing with asbestos. Do not break it up or try to remove it yourself.
What is land filling?
A landfill site is a waste disposal site where waste is directly deposited into or onto the land. This in itself is regulated and managed as much as possible to try and prevent any negative effects on the environment.
If the company your business employ to remove your waste is land filling (most companies will be land filling), your business will now be subject to the new Pre-sorting regulations which came into force in October 2007. This means that your business will have to sort your waste and separate out at least one material for recycling (i.e. cardboard). Your trade waste contractor can advise further on this.
Where are there recycling facilities?
There may be recycling facilities offered via various Waste carrier contractors. The Environmental Agency may be able to advise further on this, alternatively websites such as http://www.recycle-more.co.uk/ or http://www.netregs.gov.uk/ will provide information.
What can I recycle?
Information can be found on the websites mentioned above, or by contacting your Trade Waste contractor.
What written evidence should I have on my business premises to confirm I have a trade waste license?
In order to comply with the legislation around Trade Waste, you will have been issued a ‘Duty of Care’ document, (which is the written trade waste contract evidence) when you took out your trade waste contract. This will detail information such as the name of the contractor collecting your waste and the date of the contract.
This document needs to be kept in an accessible place on the business premises. Please note that the original document should not be sent onto Head Offices, but remain on site. You can be asked to produce this at any time, and failure to provide evidence that you have a trade waste contract may result in a fixed penalty fine being issued.
How do I renew or amend my trade waste license?
Most contracts will need to be renewed annually, although some will be on a rolling contract. You are responsible for ensuring that you are aware of when your contract runs out, and make the appropriate arrangements with a contractor to renew a contract, or find an alterative carrier to sign a new contract with.