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Household waste and your duty of care

You have a duty of care under the Household Waste Duty of Care Regulations 2005 to make sure your household waste is disposed of properly. You're responsible for any waste you give to someone else to dispose of, even if you're not handling it yourself.

If you give your waste to an unlicensed waste carrier you're committing a criminal offence. Unlicensed carriers aren't authorised to take rubbish, and many of these will fly-tip the waste instead of disposing of it correctly. It's your duty of care to make sure that the person or company removing your waste is authorised to do so. If they're not, you can be prosecuted.

Before letting a private contractor remove your waste

Before letting a private contractor remove any of your household waste, you should check their waste carrier's licence number on the Environment Agency website to make sure they're licensed. We also recommend you:

  • research to make sure they're genuine and reputable
  • ask where they're going to take your waste
  • note down the registration number of any vehicle used to remove your waste
  • ask for a receipt for their service - if you don't have a receipt and your waste is fly-tipped, you could be charged with a duty of care offence

Find out more about waste carrier licences, including how to report an unlicensed waste carrier.

Other ways to dispose of your rubbish

There may be other ways to dispose of your household waste instead of using a licensed waste carrier. You could: