Regulation of waste disposal

The UK produces around 400 million tonnes of waste annually - a quarter of which is from households and business. The rest comes from construction and demolition, sewage sludge, farm waste and spoils from mines and dredging of rivers. Domestic waste is a small proportion of the total - around 30 million.

The Environment Agency is the authority responsible for the regulation of the waste industry. They are responsible for ensuring waste produced in England and Wales is correctly disposed of. They work with industry, local authorities and Government to ensure that hazardous waste is dealt with so that it does not pose a threat to human health or the environment. They encourage reuse and recycling and support the development of facilities to deal with hazardous waste.

The Environment Agency has a duty to maintain a public register of waste management licences that they grant, and current or recent applications to the authority for licences. The registers are available on the Environment Agency website. They are fully searchable and companies can be traced by entering various fields including Postcode, Town, Company name or Licence, registration or permit number.

In addition, the Environmental Protection Act 1990 also places a duty on waste collection authorities to maintain a public register containing copies of the waste management licences as they relate to the treatment, keeping or disposal of controlled waste within the local authority's area. The Environmental Services Division maintains the public register.

The register is available for inspection free of charge from the One Stop Shop, 5th Floor The Town Hall, Wandsworth High Street, London SW18 2PU during normal office hours. Members of the public are entitled to take details of entries on the register, or request photocopies, for which a reasonable charge will be made