Duty of care
This article outlines the duty of care that importers and brokers of waste must adhere to when dealing with waste movements.
Definition of duty of care
The basis of duty of care is that any person who imports, produces, carries, keeps, treats or disposes of controlled waste, or as a broker, has control of such waste, must take all measures applicable to him/her in that capacity as are reasonable in the circumstances to:
- prevent the deposit of controlled waste on land except under the terms of a waste management authorisation
- prevent the escape of waste from his/her control, or that of any other person
- secure that any transfer of waste is only to an authorised person
- be accompanied by a description adequate to help any subsequent holder avoid breaching the duty
In practice the legislation requires all producers, carriers and managers of waste to put in place a system of transfer notes in order to document waste movements. For details of the requirements see:
- Waste Management: The Duty of Care – A Code of Practice for Northern Ireland
- Waste - duty of care responsibilities
Further advice is available by calling Duty of Care helpline at 028 9056 9360 or you can email roc@daera-ni.gov.uk