(See Waste and EPA 1990 Part II in the EEF Register of Environmental Legislation).
For the purposes of manufacturing, it is best to assume that any business produces controlled waste. This classification applies to all of the waste material that the business produces. Controlled wastes attract several legal requirements as described in the following sections of this guide. Within this broad category some materials will require specific treatment because of the way they are produced (e.g. clinical waste) or because of their dangerous properties (e.g. hazardous waste).
Duty of care
All controlled waste produced by a company or other person is subject to a duty of care. A company has legal responsibilities for its waste even after it passes it on to the contractors who take it away and the site operators who process it and dispose of it (see Environmental Protection (Duty of Care) Regulations 1991 in the EEF Register of Environmental Legislation).
Keeping waste secure
As Part of the duty of care, the holder of any waste must ensure that it is kept securely whilst on site prior to disposal. If stored outdoors, lightweight material must be prevented from blowing away (e.g. lids on bins) and liquid wastes must be prevented from escaping into the ground (e.g. drums in a bunded compound to capture leakage).
For example, good storage practice for oily metal waste would include measures to prevent contamination of drainage systems and water courses. Since skips are normally not watertight, they should be kept in areas where any runoff is prevented from escaping into the drainage system or watercourses.