How to check a waste carrier licence (and avoid fines)
If someone takes your rubbish away and dumps it, you can be held responsible. The good news is that checking a waste carrier licence takes about two minutes.
Your duty of care
In England, householders have a legal duty to take reasonable steps to make sure their waste goes to someone authorised to take it. If your waste ends up fly-tipped and is traced back to you, your council can fine you, even though you did not dump it yourself.
How to check a waste carrier
- Ask for their registration number. A licensed carrier will give it to you straight away.
- Search the public register. In England, use the Environment Agency waste carrier register. Natural Resources Wales and SEPA run the registers in Wales and Scotland.
- Check the details match. The business name on the register should match the business you are dealing with.
- Get a receipt or waste transfer note that shows who took the waste and where it is going.
Warning signs
- Cash only, with no receipt
- No business name, address or registration number
- A price far below everyone else's
- Adverts with just a mobile number and a photo of a van
- Reluctance to say where the waste will go
Our licence
Easy Junk Go is an upper-tier registered waste carrier. Our registration number is [WASTE_CARRIER_NUMBER], and you can check it on the register. Every collection comes with a waste transfer note, and loads go to a licensed site.
Fly-tipping is a problem across London, from Newham and Barking and Dagenham to Croydon, Ealing and Brent. Using a licensed carrier protects you and your neighbourhood.