Case law: duty of care relating to waste

Businesses that place controlled waste refuse on public land or highways for collection risk prosecution unless they comply with guidelines concerning collection times.

In a recent High Court case, a firm was prosecuted under the Environmental Protection Act for putting bags of commercial waste out for collection before 7am, even though notices distributed by the council stated that waste could only be placed for collection between 9am and 10.30am.

The court established that a business commits an offence if it fails to take reasonable steps to prevent the 'escape' of waste. In this case, by depositing the waste on a highway a significant period of time before collection was permissible, the business had materially increased risk of an escape, and had therefore failed to take reasonable preventative measures.

Because an actual escape of waste doesn't even have to have occurred for an offence to have been committed, businesses should only put rubbish out for collection at recommended times.

Immediate

See the full text of the judgment on the British and Irish Legal Information Institute website www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2006/1615.html