The legal duty of any person who imports, produces, carries, keeps, treats or disposes of controlled waste to take all such measures as are reasonable in the circumstances to prevent that waste causing harm to the environment.

Introduction The duty of care for waste under section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA 1990) (as variously amended) places an obligation on all ‘holders’ of waste to meet certain requirements that help to ensure protection of the environment from the point of waste production to its final recovery/disposal. One of the key requirements of the duty of care is to provide a written description of waste so that all waste holders can use this to ensure legal compliance with other aspects of the duty of care. For more information, see: Waste duty of care—overview. Special rules apply for dealing with hazardous waste or dealing with POPs waste (waste with a high level of persistent organic pollutants, ‘POPs’). For more information on POPs, see Practice Note: Persistent organic pollutants (POPs). The Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC (WFD 2008), Annex III lists the properties of waste that would render it hazardous. This Practice Note refers to EU legislation and to case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). For guidance

The statutory duty of care in relation to controlled waste was introduced by the section 34(1) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA 1990). It has been amended several times. Failure to comply with the duty of care is an offence under EPA 1990, s 34(6). The main waste regulators are the Environment Agency (EA) in England, the Natural Resources Body for Wales (NRW), the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA). Local authorities also have a role in regulating the less polluting processes and facilities. The main government departments are the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Welsh Government, the Scottish Government and the Department for Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA). This Practice Note covers the duty of care in respect of controlled waste in England and Wales only. It refers to EU law. For guidance on how this applies in the UK see Practice Note: Assimilated law. Over time, the law, policy and guidance on waste may shift as domestic law and practice diverge from

This Practice Note covers the duty of care in respect of extractive waste in England and Wales only. For information on the duty of care in respect of controlled waste, see Practice Note: Waste duty of care—controlled waste. It is a criminal offence under section 34(6) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (EPA 1990), to fail to comply with the duty of care by not taking all such measures as are reasonable in the circumstances. Scope of the extractive waste duty of care EPA 1990, s 34(1A) provides that it is the duty of any person who is responsible for the management of extractive waste to take all such measures applicable to them in that capacity as are reasonable in the circumstances: • to prevent any contravention by any other person of EPA 1990, s 33 in relation to the unauthorised or harmful deposit, treatment or disposal of waste • to prevent any contravention by any other person of the requirement to hold an environmental permit under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 (EPR 2016),

Relevant legislation Waste exemptions are regulated in England and Wales through the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 (EPR 2016), SI 2016/1154. These regulations originally implemented the requirements of the EU Waste Framework Directive 2008/98/EC. For more information, see Practice Note: EU Waste Framework Directive—snapshot. The government has issued guidance on registering or renewing waste exemptions and on choosing waste exemptions for waste management activity. What are waste exemptions? A waste exemption is a waste operation that is exempt from needing an environmental permit. Each exemption has limits and conditions. Under the Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2016 (EPR 2016), SI 2016/1154, a person must not operate a ‘regulated facility’ other than in accordance with an environmental permit. A regulated facility includes 'installations’ and ‘waste operations’, but does not include an ‘exempt facility’. For an explanation of the meaning of the terms ‘regulated facility’, ‘installation’ and ‘waste operation’, see Practice Note: Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016—waste installations, waste operations and exempt waste operations. A waste activity is exempt from the requirement to obtain an environmental

This Practice Note provides an introduction to waste law and waste producer responsibility. It is aimed at trainee solicitors and others who are new to waste law and producer responsibility. An introduction to waste law Waste law and policy cover the legal rules and policy frameworks governing the management of waste to protect human health and the environment. In England and Wales, waste law and policy is grounded in circular economy principles where resources are kept in use for as long as possible and waste is minimised through reuse and recycling. The different areas of waste law are interconnected, forming a comprehensive framework for managing waste responsibly. The definition of waste sets the foundation for classification and controls, while the duty of care ensures safe handling throughout the waste lifecycle. Permits regulate waste management activities, and hazardous waste regulations provide additional safeguards. Effective waste management and planning support sustainable practices, and transport regulations ensure safe movement of waste. Understanding how these elements overlap and link together is crucial for navigating the legal landscape of

Before the introduction of Environmental Permits, a Waste Management Licence (WML) was required by any person that was in the business of treating, keeping or depositing Controlled Waste.

The Waste Management Plan for England (WMPE), January 2021, provides an overview of waste management in England. It is published in accordance with requirements under the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 (Waste E&W Regs 2011), SI 2011/988, Pts 3 and 4 (as variously amended) for national waste management plans to be in place and to be reviewed every six years. The WMPE, and its associated documents, together with local authorities’ waste local plans combine with equivalent plans in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, to help ensure that waste management plans are in place throughout the UK. The WMPE is published by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) on behalf of the Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, who is the ‘appropriate authority’ under the Waste E&W Regs 2011, SI 2011/988, reg 3. The Environment Agency (EA) is the appropriate body. In Wales, the Welsh Ministers and the Natural Resources Body for Wales are the appropriate authority and appropriate body respectively. At local level, minerals and waste planning authorities

Environment analysis: In this case the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) challenged the lawfulness of a planning policy imposing waste-management requirements on proposed livestock units. The court dismissed the NFU’s case, making findings such as that a local plan’s scope may exceed the definition of ‘waste’ in the Planning Acts, and that chicken manure can be a form of waste in certain circumstances. The case has implications for increasingly high-profile and contested matters such as the relationship between agriculture and water pollution, and the effectiveness of associated regulation. It is of particular interest to farmers, regulators and environmental campaigners. Written by Robert Dennis, lawyer at the Office for Environmental Protection.

National policy 25-Year Environment Plan—the 25-Year Environment Plan sets out the government’s pledges to improve the environment, within a generation. The Environmental Improvement Plan 2023 (EIP 2023) for England was the first statutory revision of the 25-Year Environment Plan under the Environment Act 2021 (EA 2021). On 1 December 2025, it was replaced by the Environmental Improvement Plan 2025 (EIP 2025), which is now the current environmental improvement plan for the purposes of EA 2021. EIP 2025 updates the long-term framework for delivering environmental outcomes, revises the interim targets in EIP 2023 and introduces two new interim targets. EIP 2025 is relevant to waste planning as part of the wider policy approach to improving resource efficiency and supporting the transition to a more circular economy, complementing the Resources and Waste Strategy and the Waste Management Plan for England (see below). Resources and Waste Strategy—the Resources and Waste Strategy sets out how the government plans to preserve material resources by minimising waste, promoting resource efficiency and moving towards a circular economy in England. It sets out a

Producer responsibility regimes—liability framework This Practice Note provides an overview of the principal liability framework that applies under the producer responsibility regimes operating in England and Wales. It focuses on four core waste regimes: • packaging waste • waste electronic and electric equipment (WEEE) • batteries and accumulators, and • end of life vehicles (ELV) It outlines the underlying legal framework, key statutory obligations, the allocation of responsibility across the supply chain, and enforcement mechanisms in each regime. Part 3, section 50 of the Environment Act 2021 (EA 2021) and Schedule 4 provided powers to the Secretary of State for England (and Welsh Ministers for Wales) to make regulations that impose further obligations on producers, including setting and enforcing targets for waste management. This enabled the introduction of extended producer responsibility (EPR) regimes. In England and Wales, the EPR regime for packaging waste is regulated through the Producer Responsibility Obligations (Packaging and Packaging Waste) Regulations 2024, SI 2024/1332. For more information, see Practice Note: Packaging and packaging waste—extended producer responsibility regime. EPR for WEEE

European Union targets to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill, and technology innovation, led to the development of new waste infrastructure being developed in the UK. In general, there are two main contracting structures for these projects: • waste Private Finance Initiative (PFI) and Public-Private Partnerships (PPP) infrastructure contracts which may be subject to the Procurement Act 2023 (PA 2023) where they involve a covered procurement by a contracting authority, and • merchant waste infrastructure contracts A merchant contract is a legally binding agreement between a business (the merchant) and often an acquiring bank. Merchant waste projects are types of project where the sponsoring body ( or ‘acquiring bank’) is a private company such as the Green Investment Group. They may include projects which use private, specialist fuel supply such as refuse derived fuel, commercial and industrial waste and waste wood. This Practice Note focuses on merchant waste infrastructure contracts. For information about waste PFI/PPP projects, see Practice Note: Waste projects—waste PFI/PPP infrastructure projects. For background information on waste projects