How to Check Your Waste Carrier Is Environment Agency Licensed
If your waste ends up fly-tipped, the fine can land on you. That is true even if you paid someone else to take it away.
Whether you’re a business booking a food waste collection or a householder getting rid of an old sofa, the law says you must make sure your waste goes to a registered carrier. The good news is that checking takes less than two minutes. Here is how.
Householders
Up to £600
fixed penalty from your council for using an unregistered carrier, or a court case.
Businesses
Unlimited
maximum fine if you are prosecuted for breaching your waste duty of care.
Why it matters
Everyone who produces waste has a legal duty of care. You are responsible for your waste until it is handed to someone authorised to take it. If you give it to an unregistered “man with a van” and it gets dumped in a lay-by, councils can trace it back to you.
The Environment Agency is clear that it is not enough for someone to say they are registered. You need to check for yourself.
How to check a waste carrier in under 2 minutes
Ask for their registration number
Any genuine waste carrier will give it to you straight away. In England it starts with CBDU or CBDL followed by numbers.
Open the Environment Agency public register
Go to the waste carriers, brokers and dealers register on the official government website. It is free to use.
Search for them
Type in their registration number, business name or postcode.
Check the details match
The name and address on the register should match the business you are dealing with, not just a similar sounding company.
Check it is the right tier and still current
Anyone collecting other people’s waste as a business needs an upper tier registration (starting CBDU). Upper tier registrations need renewing, so make sure it hasn’t expired.
Try it now
Practise with ours. Search for CBDU617131 on the public register and you’ll find Hartes listed.
Upper tier or lower tier?
Upper tier (CBDU)
What you need
For businesses that collect, carry or deal with other people’s waste. Clearance firms, skip companies and waste collectors should all have this.
Lower tier (CBDL)
Limited cases only
Mainly for businesses carrying only their own waste and a few other special cases. Not usually right for someone clearing your waste.
Red flags to watch out for
A price that seems too good to be true
The Environment Agency warns that very quick, very cheap collections are a common sign of someone operating outside the law.
No registration number, or they won’t give it
A genuine carrier has nothing to hide.
They are not on the register
If you can’t find them, don’t hand over your waste. Full stop.
An Environment Agency logo on their advert
The Environment Agency says rogue traders often use its logo without permission. A logo proves nothing. The register does.
No paperwork
Businesses should always get a waste transfer note. Householders should ask for a receipt showing the company name, what was taken and where it is going.
“Don’t take their word for it. Two minutes on the register could save you hundreds of pounds.”
Spotted a rogue waste carrier?
If you think someone is operating illegally, you can report it to the Environment Agency or anonymously to Crimestoppers. Report fly-tipping to your local council.
Why choose Hartes
Hartes is an Environment Agency registered upper tier waste carrier. We provide food waste collections, rubbish removal and house clearances across London, Essex and Hertfordshire. Every business customer gets the paperwork they need to show they have met their duty of care.
✓
Registered carrier
CBDU617131. Check it yourself on the register.
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Proper paperwork
Waste transfer notes for business customers
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Local to you
London, Essex and Hertfordshire
Use a carrier you can trust
Licensed food waste collections and rubbish removal.
This article is general guidance for England. Fixed penalty amounts are set by each council and can vary.
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