What to do with business waste?
As a business you are responsible for the waste and recycling generated from your activity. It must be disposed of in line with duty of care legislation.
What is business waste?
All businesses are responsible for the legal disposal of any and all waste materials created as a result of the business activities. This includes waste from businesses with a fixed premises, as well as mobile businesses like house clearances, gardening services, and tip run services. Any waste generated from landlord activities is also classed as business waste, for example, where a landlord is renovating or servicing a property, or disposing of furniture that they own or that has been left behind by tenants.
Storing business waste
As part of Duty of Care legislation, businesses must safely store and separate wastes, in particular hazardous wastes. You can find out more about the Duty of Care responsibilities and how to follow them at Right Waste, Right Place.
Transporting business waste materials
Business waste can either be transported to a disposal facility by the business who created it, or by a third party on their behalf. Whoever is carrying the waste must have a Waste Carriers Licence. If you are only transporting your own business waste and you don’t deal with building, construction or demolition waste, then there is no charge for the licence.
If you hire someone else to transport your business waste, then you have a duty of care to ensure they have a valid waste carriers licence - GOV.UK.
Where to dispose of business waste
It is against the law to use household collections, bring banks or household waste recycling centres to dispose of business waste.
To dispose of business waste you can bring it to our trade waste facility at Gypsum Close, or any commercial disposal facility of your choice, although some have high minimum quantities.
Alternatively, you can find a commercial waste carrier who will deal with your waste on your behalf; either by collecting items by appointment or providing containers such as wheeled bins or a skip that they empty on an agreed schedule. Many of these companies offer collection services for general waste, cardboard, glass, food waste, wood, metal, and/or mixed recycling, depending on what your business produces.
We also operate a scheme to collect small quantities of bagged business waste from certain parts of the city. Find out about our trade waste sacks.
Contact us
If you have any questions, please send us an email at tradewaste@leicester.gov.uk.