Hazardous waste

Consignees

You must follow these steps if you receive, treat or dispose of hazardous waste at premises in England.

Get an environmental permit or register an exemption for your premises.
Check the consignment note and waste before you accept it – make sure it’s classified correctly.
Reject the waste if the consignment note is missing, incorrect or incomplete.
Fill in part E of the consignment note for any hazardous waste you accept or reject – keep one copy and hand one copy back to the carrier.
Send consignee returns to the Environment Agency, and the waste producer or holder, to report on any hazardous waste you accept or reject.
Keep records (known as a ‘register’).

You must keep records at the site where the hazardous waste was stored, treated or disposed.

You must keep:

consignment notes
any related documents, for example ‘carrier schedules’ (list of carriers when there is more than one), records of rejected loads
a site inventory that records where waste was stored, treated or disposed of at your waste site – keep this in a secure, marked area that’s accessible in emergencies

‘Tipped waste’ (permanent waste storage, for example landfill) includes:

Type of storage	Disposal code (from the Waste Framework Directive)
Deposit into or onto land, for example landfill	D1
Land treatment	D2
Deep injection	D3
Surface impoundment	D4
Specially engineered landfill	D5
Release into a water body except seas or oceans	D6
Permanent storage	D12

Your site inventory must be a site plan that shows where hazardous waste is stored at your waste site together with its:

consignment note code – get this from the consignee return if there’s no consignment note
waste description including the waste classification code, its chemical components and hazardous properties

Use either a grid or contour lines to divide up your site plan.

These requirements are for all waste operations other than tipped waste, including:

Your site inventory can be a site plan or table showing the location of waste at your site together with:

its consignment note code – get this from the consignee return if there’s no consignment note
information cross-referencing each incoming or outgoing waste (waste transfer activities only)

You must also keep records for each delivery of hazardous waste you accept at your site – include:

its weight in kilograms
its waste description including the waste classification code, its chemical components and hazardous properties
the name, address and postcode of the waste holder or producer it came from
the disposal or recovery method you applied to the waste

The type of waste site you have determines how long you keep records.

	Type of record	How long you must keep it
Landfill site (disposal codes D1 to D6 and D12)	All records	As long as you have a permit
Other waste site with a permit	Consignment notes	5 years
Other waste site with a permit	Site inventory and all other records	As long as you have a permit
Waste sites with an exemption	All records	3 years

You must send your records to the Environment Agency if you give up or lose your permit.