Most people assume their legal responsibility for waste ends when the bin lorry drives away. For council collections, that’s broadly true.
But the moment you hand waste to anyone other than your local authority, a different set of rules applies, and those rules place legal responsibility on you as the person who produced the waste.
Scotland has its own framework for this, under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and the Environmental Protection (Duty of Care) (Scotland) Regulations 2014.
Here’s what that means in plain terms.
What is the household waste duty of care?
The waste duty of care is a legal responsibility that applies to anyone who produces, stores, handles, or disposes of controlled waste.
It sits under Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and requires every waste holder to take reasonable steps to ensure their waste doesn’t cause harm.
As an occupier of a domestic property, you have a duty to take all reasonable measures to ensure your waste is stored safely, transferred only to an authorised person, and managed correctly from collection through to recovery or disposal.
The duty of care code of practice sets out what counts as reasonable measures to comply. While the code isn’t legislation itself, it is admissible as evidence in any prosecution relating to the management of waste.
What counts as controlled waste?
Controlled waste covers household, commercial, and industrial waste as defined under the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
For most householders, this means anything you want to dispose of from your home: furniture, white goods, garden waste, food waste, electrical items, paper and card, glass, plastic, and general junk.
Your local authority handles a portion of this through standard bin collections and kerbside recycling services.
But for anything beyond that, whether you’re booking a private collection, hiring a skip, or using a waste contractor, you become responsible for ensuring the waste management is handled legally.
Your obligations as a householder
Under Scotland’s duty of care, you must ensure four things when dealing with your waste.
Store your waste safely
You must store your waste safely to prevent it escaping, causing pollution, or attracting pests.
Waste left unsecured on a pavement or public land breaches this obligation and can result in a fixed penalty from your local authority.
Transfer waste only to an authorised person
Waste must be transferred to an authorised person.
This includes either your local authority collection service, or a waste contractor who is appropriately registered with SEPA (the Scottish Environment Protection Agency).
Handing waste to someone without the right licence doesn’t satisfy your duty of care, regardless of what you pay them.
Complete a waste transfer note
When waste is transferred to a private carrier, both parties must complete a waste transfer note (WTN).
The WTN records the type of waste, the quantity, the carrier’s registration number, and signatures from both the waste producer and the transferee.
You must keep a copy, and so must the carrier.
Segregate recyclable waste
The Waste (Scotland) Regulations introduced obligations to segregate recyclable materials.
Paper and card, glass, plastic, metal, and food waste must be separated where a collection service exists to collect them.
Using high quality recycling routes rather than sending everything to landfill is part of complying with the duties in Scotland.
If you are hiring a SEPA registered rubbish remover, they will handle this part on your behalf.
What is an authorised person?
Not everyone with a van and a website can legally transport and dispose of your waste.
An authorised person in Scotland is either your local authority, or a waste contractor or waste manager who holds a licence or environmental permit and is appropriately registered with SEPA as a carrier of controlled waste.
You can check whether a person is registered on SEPA’s public register of waste carriers and brokers before you book. Their registration number should be verifiable within a couple of minutes.
Handing waste to someone who isn’t authorised doesn’t transfer your duty of care. If the waste is fly-tipped after collection, your responsibility to ensure the waste was managed correctly hasn’t been met.
Our guide on how to check if a company is SEPA registered walks you through the register search step by step.
What happens if you don’t comply with the duties?
Failure to comply with the duty of care is an offence under Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
A fixed penalty notice can be issued by your local authority for minor cases.
More serious cases, particularly where waste is fly-tipped or disposed of in a way causing harm to the environment or human health, can result in prosecution. A prosecution can carry an unlimited fine on conviction. The duty to take all reasonable steps isn’t optional.
What about council bin collections?
Your household bin collection is managed by your local authority, which is an authorised person for the purposes of the duty of care.
Putting your waste in the correct bins, segregating recyclables appropriately, and not leaving waste to cause a nuisance is how you comply with the duties for standard council waste services.
The duty of care becomes more relevant when you arrange private waste services for items your local authority doesn’t collect.
Bulky furniture, old appliances, large volumes of garden waste, or anything from a full house or garage clearance.
For any of these, you need to verify the carrier is authorised and arrange a waste transfer note.
Scotland’s duty of care framework
Scotland operates under a distinct legal framework from England and Wales.
The Environmental Protection (Duty of Care) (Scotland) Regulations 2014 introduced requirements specific to Scotland.
Scotland’s duty of care code of practice is published on gov.scot, and the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) is the regulator, not the Environment Agency.
Zero Waste Scotland also publishes guidance on the Waste (Scotland) Regulations, which sit alongside the duty of care framework on obligations around recycling and waste streams.
The core obligation is the same across all parts of the UK. You have a responsibility to ensure your waste is disposed of correctly, and that responsibility doesn’t end when it leaves your property.
How to make sure your collection is legal
Before booking any private waste collection, take three steps.
Check the company is registered with SEPA as an authorised waste carrier. Their registration number should be on their website or available on request.
Ask whether they issue a waste transfer note as standard. A legitimate waste collection service will, as a matter of course. Without one, you have no documentation that your duty of care was met.
Ask what action is being taken with the waste. A responsible carrier should be able to tell you how different waste streams are dealt with, whether anything is recyclable, and what proportion is diverted from landfill.
If a company can’t or won’t answer, treat that as a warning. A cheap collection that results in a fixed penalty notice is not a saving.
Book with a SEPA-registered carrier with Junk-It Scotland
Junk-it Scotland has been carrying waste legally across Central Scotland since 2006.
We’re fully registered with SEPA, and we issue a waste transfer note with every collection as standard, so your duty of care documentation is complete from day one.
Over 85% of what we collect is diverted from landfill through recycling, reuse, and donation, so the waste is handled responsibly at every stage of the waste management process.
Whether it is a single item uplift or a full commercial clearance, we aim to have you covered. Call our friendly team today to learn more 0141 433 4330.
