Sustainable Manufacturing Portal

Hazardous Waste

The EC Hazardous Waste Directive (HWD) aims to provide a standardised definition of hazardous waste and to ensure the correct management and regulation of such waste in Member States.

The European Waste Catalogue (EWC) 2002 provide a comprehensive list of all wastes, both hazardous and non-hazardous, grouped according to generic industry, process or waste type. The hazardous waste entries were differentiated with an asterisk (*), based on the properties as defined in HWD.

These EC Directive were tranposed into the UK law through the Hazardous Waste (England and Wales)Regulations 2005 and The List of Wastes (England) Regulations 2005.

Hazardous wastes (or known as special waste in Scotland) are waste that contains substances that are harmful to health or environment (immediately or over a period of time). There are two types of waste entry in the EWC i.e. Absolute and Mirror. 'Absolute' entries in the EWC are wastes which are always hazardous. 'Mirror' entries are wastes that are only considered hazardous if the content of harmful substances exceeds specific limits.
Find out if your wastes are hazardous using the Environment Agency Guide

If your business produces hazardous wastes, the regulations specify that you have the 'Duty of Care' to ensure that the wastes are handled and disposed of properly throughout the waste chain, from production-storage-transportation-treatment-disposal.

Hazardous waste producers in England and Wales need to register their premises with the Environment Agency (In England, producers of less than 500kg hazardous wastes per year are exempted starting from 6 April 2009). A unique 'premises code' that is valid for 12 months will be given upon registration. Hazardous waste producers in Northern Ireland or Scotland are not require to register but the Northern Ireland Environment Agency or Scottish Environment Protection Agency must be pre-notified before each consignment of hazardous waste leaves the premises.
Register/ renew your premises with the Environment Agency
Each consignment of hazardous wastes leaving the premises must be accompanied with a consignment note throughout its transportation process until the consignment reaches its final destination. A copy of the consignment note shall be kept as record for three years by the producers.
Find out more about the Environment Agency consignment notes procedure
Hazardous waste must be stored seperately with proper label, safety data sheet and barrier to contain leaks. The wastes should have a proper inventory records and only be handled by trained personnel.
Businesslink Guide on Manage harmful substances safely
The waste should only be transported only by a registered waste carrier.
Find out about Carriage for Dangerous Goods as identified by the Department for Transport
The waste should only be treated and disposed by a facility with an appropriate licence or permit.
Find out about landfill sites that are permitted to accept hazardous waste