Trade Waste
New regulations arriving 31 March 2025
Regulations are changing from 31st March 2025: Simpler recycling: workplace recycling in England - GOV.UK
From 31st March 2025, all workplaces with more than 10 full time employees will have a legal duty to separate their waste for disposal. Workplaces have a legal duty to manage their waste and recycle as much as possible.
Waste will need to be separated into different streams:
- Dry mixed recycling
- 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.
Your business waste
If you run a business, you have a legal responsibility for the safe disposal of your business waste.
Your duty of care
The two main waste and recycling laws which affect businesses are:
- The Environmental Protection Act 1990 Section 34; and
- The Landfill Regulations
- Simpler Recycling guidance
The Environmental Protection Act 1990 sets out your duty of care with regards 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. For more information on duty of care responsibilities please visit the Right Waste Right Place website.
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 NHDC 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.
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.
Our services
We operate a commercial waste collection service through our Waste Service Contractor. This 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 for non-recyclable waste and fortnightly for dry mixed recycling.
Food waste collections for businesses will be offered from August 2025. Until this time, we are unable to provide a suitable food waste collection service due to not having the specialist vehicles or staff to facilitate these collections.
Request a quote
For a quotation, please complete our online trade waste quotation form or email commercial.waste@north-herts.gov.uk, where a member of our team will be happy to assist with your enquiry.
Reporting a Missed Trade Waste Collection
You should only report a missed bin if:
- Your bin was put out on the correct collection day. This collection day(s) should've been given to you when setting up the contract. The only exception to these days is where there is bank holidays where the collection day will be a day later or up to two days during the festive period
- You are reporting within 48 hours (two working days) of a missed collection.
- Your bin was out before 7am on the day of collection
- Your bin was on the boundary of your property.
If you still believe your bin has been missed, you can fill in our Report a Missed Trade Waste Bin Form
For any other enquiries relating to trade waste such as cancellation, additional collections etc, please contact commercial.waste@north-herts.gov.uk
Clinical Waste - Trade
Healthcare waste or clinical waste is not accepted in trade waste bins because it poses a threat of infection to humans and must be incinerated.
We offer a chargeable clinical waste collection service for businesses including doctors, dentists, clinics and tattooists.
Types of clinical waste include:
- Human or animal tissue
- Blood
- Swabs or dressings
- Syringes and needles
If you produce clinical waste, we can provide your business with the sharps boxes or sacks and ensure the correct disposal
Clinical waste can be collected weekly in your area. To arrange a collection or for more information and costs, please call us on 01279 655261.
Please note, we are unable to collect sharps boxes that have a purple lid.
For further guidance on the different lid colours, please see the Sharpak website
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