Right waste, right place

In a recent survey, 96 per cent of businesses in the south-west considered themselves to be up to date with waste regulations. Yet over 50 per cent of these businesses could be  at risk of fines as they didn’t know where their waste ends up , and didn’t keep waste transfer notes.

By not knowing what happens to their waste or employing unregistered waste disposal companies, companies run the risk of inadvertently allowing their waste to be fly-tipped.  Between 2015/16, over  £50,000 was spent in Gloucestershire investigating 2,139 fly tipping incidents.

It is illegal for businesses to dispose of waste or recycling in normal household bin collections, at recycling banks or household recycling centres.

The new website, Right Waste, Right Place  provides practical guidance and information for businesses about how to properly dispose of waste. There is also advice about disposing of business waste available at Recycle for Gloucestershire.

Cllr Sue Coakley, chair of the Gloucestershire Joint Waste Committee, said: “We are proud to be ambassadors for the ‘right Waste, right Place’ campaign, as it helps our small businesses to protect themselves.

“We know that the majority of companies want to do the right thing, and this user-friendly website offers practical advice on safe and efficient business waste disposal. We don’t want businesses in Gloucestershire to risk fines by not complying with the rules and we want all waste disposed of properly.

We would also recommend that householders check that any traders they employ dispose of any waste they produce at their property properly. Please check that they are using a ‘registered carrier of waste’ and ask where they are taking your waste.”

Issued by: Matt White, Gloucestershire County Council media team, 01452 427549

Notes to editors

Gloucestershire’s Joint Waste Team is made up of Gloucestershire County Council, Cheltenham Borough Council, Cotswold District Council, Forest of Dean District Council and Tewkesbury Borough Council.

Gloucestershire Joint Waste Team is an ambassador organisation for the ‘right waste right place’ campaign. The campaign is managed by the Environmental Services Association, sponsored by the Environment Agency, the Chartered Institute of Wastes Management and the Environmental Services Association Education Trust.

Statistics taken from research commissioned by the ‘right Waste, right Place’ campaign, which surveyed over 1,000 businesses across the UK about their knowledge and behaviours with regard to Duty of Care.

Data regarding fly tipping statistics has been taken from WasteDataFlow which captures data submitted by local authorities. The costs are drawn from provided costs associated with Investigation Actions for the six districts within Gloucestershire.