OVERVIEW OF THE LAW

Hazardous waste is any waste listed in the List of Waste (England) Regulation 2005 as hazardous ref, or which is exceptionally classified as hazardous by the Secretary of State ref because it is harmful to human health or the environment. The European Waste Catalogue identifies hazardous waste with an asterisk; while some wastes are always classed as hazardous waste and called absolute entries, others are called mirror entries and classed as hazardous waste depending on if the amount present is above a certain threshold concentration. There is a legal duty of care on holders of hazardous waste to ensure that their waste does not cause harm to human health or the environment. This duty includes ensuring that only authorised persons handle the waste; it only goes to a registered or exempt site that can accept the type of waste; a consignment note accompanies the waste; and the different categories of Hazardous waste are separated where technically feasible. In order to transport hazardous waste, it must be packaged correctly and labelled correctly and it must be accompanied by a consignment note by which it can be tracked and shown that waste has been managed responsibly from where it was produced until received at an authorised recovery or disposal facility.

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• HAZARDOUS WASTE
  
• WHAT IS THE REQUIREMENT OF LAW?
  
• REQUIRED DOCUMENTATION AND PROCEDURE
  
• WHEN WILL THE LAW BECOME APPLICABLE TO YOU?
  
• WHEN WILL THE LAW NOT APPLY TO YOU?
  
• WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DON’T OBEY THE LAW?
  
• WHAT DEFENCES ARE AVAILABLE IF THE LAW IS APPLICABLE?
  
• PRACTICAL STEPS TO DISCOVER IF WASTE IS HAZARDOUS WASTE