No matter whether you’re a homeowner or businessman, we’re all responsible for the waste we produce and how we dispose of it. But just how responsible are we for our waste? Well, an article published in the West Leeds Dispatch expressed that it’s a matter of law and breaking it could see us receiving a fine. Not only does a lack of waste responsibility, bring a negative impact to our environment, it’s also considered an offence that can see us being fined for.
The same rule applies with skip hire. We’ll explore in this article what you need to consider when hiring a skip company to collect your waste.
Hiring a licensed supplier
First things first, would be to check whether the skip hire company you’re hiring from is a licensed waste carrier. A licensed skip company will be able to show you their waste carriers’ registration, a document that tells you if that company is okay to take your waste away. This is probably the most important thing to check, as it could be that the very cheap skip company you have found are dumping your waste illegally, which could see you receiving the punishment for their wrong-doings.
The government recently published a press release, which referenced two companies in Essex had received a fine because they’d hired an unlicensed skip company. The two businesses hired a company to take their waste away but were later slapped with a fine of up to £45,000 each, which they had to pay all because the skip company they hired fly-tipped their waste and were not licensed.
To avoid a similar incident being brought to you, ensure that you check whether your skip company is licensed.
Licensed landfills and waste transfer stations
Another important consideration to tick off would be to ensure you waste is being taken to a licensed landfill or waste transfer station. The Government Statistical Service had reported in 2017-2018, that England had just under a million fly-tipping incidents (998,000) with a third of the figure being business waste.
Your waste remains to be your responsibility no matter whether you’re disposing of it personally or you’re hiring a company. A recent article published by the Braintree and Witham Times named and shamed a businessman caught fly-tipping his waste. The businessman was fined £1,805 for dumping his rubbish at the back of a building in Duke Street, Chelmsford. Shocking!
Fill out a waste transfer note
After checking that your waste is being handled by a licensed waste carrier and is going to a licensed location, you should then make sure you have a waste transfer note. A waste transfer note is proof that your waste has been dealt with responsibly, something those Essex companies could have done with! Skip companies tend to ask what waste you’re looking to dispose of, and a waste transfer note can help you answer that question, showing exactly what waste is being collected.
For every occurrence of skip hire, a valid waste transfer note will be required, as well as a number of boxes being ticked for the skip company to take the waste away. Using Skip Hire UK’s checklist here are a few questions to ask yourself:
- Have you described the waste?
- How is the waste stored?
- Who is producing the waste?
- Who is collecting the waste?
- Are they licensed and do they have a permit?
- Where is the waste being collected from?
- Where is the waste being disposed?
- Is it licensed and does it have a permit?
To conclude, be sure to quickly check over the outlined points above and you should be spared being fined liked the two Essex companies. Make sure you know your responsibilities when dealing with waste and you can help reduce those spiraling fly-tipping stats!
