The Duty of Care is a law that requires you to take all reasonable steps to keep your waste safe. It was introduced through the UK Environmental Protection Act 1990, and covers any business or individual who produces, imports, carries, keeps, treats, disposes or brokers controlled waste. If you give waste to someone else, you must be sure they are authorized to take it and can transport, recycle or dispose of it safely. If you break this law, you can be fined an unlimited amount.


The objective of the Duty of Care Act is to protect people and the environment from the impacts of illegally managed waste. It also protects responsible businesses from carrying out an illegal act. It does this by creating an "audit trail" of responsibility and involvement for the waste. The Environment Agencies and local authorities can track this audit trail back to all parties who are responsible and they can be prosecuted.