Waste Management on Industrial Estates

Dear Roger,

Under the Duty of Care principles, everyone involved in the waste chain has a duty to ensure that the waste is correctly segregated, stored and disposed of. It is your responsibility as the company who contracts the waste provider to ensure that they are correctly licensed (and don't forget to check the validity of the licence with the Environment Agency) and that they provide you with the correct waste documentation. I would also suggest that you check that the ultimate destination for the waste is properly licensed for the type of waste being sent.

You as Landlord should also be registered with the EA as a broker of waste - even though you do not handle the waste, you are making the arrangements. It would also be advisable that either as part of tenancy contract or more likely as an annual process, that an annual Duty of Care season ticket is drawn up between you (the Landlord) and the tenant that can reinforce the message as to what waste is acceptable and even what bins it should be placed in, which is particularly important if any segregation for recycling is going on. It can also reinforce that no hazardous waste must be put in general waste e.g. batteries, light tubes etc. Such a ticket (which can only last a maximum of one year for same type of waste going in same bin etc.) would also enable your tenant to show compliance with duty of care should anyone ask (local authority, EA or ISO 14001 certification auditor).

In terms of making sure the tenant does not contaminate the waste, it's a question of being able to demonstrate that you have taken all reasonably practicable steps to make sure this does not happen - and keep records to show this. In addition to the recommendations above, I suggest that, if you haven't already done so, you communicate these requirements to the tenant and then carry out occasional audits of the waste skips to check that all is OK. If you see evidence of contamination, you will need to contact the tenant and reinforce the message.

I hope that helps.

Kind regards,

Sally

As a Landlord we supply various services to the occupiers of our properties one of which, on certain estates, is waste removal.

In essence we contract a waste provider to place waste containers/compactors on an estate into which our tenants can dispose of their commercial waste. We sign the waste transfer note stating that the waste is of general commercial nature and will not contain any hazardous material.

We have a concern that, in the event that a tenant did introduce anything into the waste, it would be ourselves that would be held responsible.

If this is so is there anything we should be doing to ensure we are protected and if not would our best option be to remove any waste services advising our tenants that they will need to make their own provisions for waste removal.

Many thanks

Roger Heywood