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Waste duty of care definition

What does Waste duty of care mean? In legal practice, the waste duty of care is the continuing obligation on anyone who produces, imports, carries, keeps, treats, brokers, deals in or disposes of waste to take reasonable measures to prevent environmental harm and to ensure waste is managed lawfully from creation to recovery or disposal. In England & Wales and Scotland it is a statutory duty under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, s.34, applying to controlled waste and supported by a Code of Practice. It requires: preventing unauthorised or harmful deposit, treatment or disposal; preventing the escape of waste; transferring waste only to authorised persons (e.g. registered...

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Waste duty of care for controlled waste: EPA 1990 s 34—scope, compliance, documentation, householders, enforcement and digital waste tracking (England and Wales)

Practice notes
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The statutory Duty of care in relation to Controlled waste

EPA 1990, s 34(1) first established the statutory duty of care for controlled waste, and it has since been revised on several occasions. Breach of that duty is an offence under EPA 1990, s 34(6).

The principal waste regulators are:

  • Environment Agency (EA) in England
  • Natural Resources Body for Wales (NRW)
  • Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)
  • Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA)

Local authorities also regulate the less polluting processes and facilities.

The main government departments are:

  • Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
  • Welsh Government
  • Scottish Government
  • Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA)

This Practice Note addresses the duty of care for controlled waste in England and Wales only. It cites EU law. For guidance on how this applies in the UK see Practice Note: Assimilated law. Over time, waste law, policy and guidance may change as domestic law and practice diverge from EU law, although many technical concepts and definitions that were relevant immediately prior to Brexit remain useful and in use. For more information see...

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Web page updated on 22/05/2026

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