Reducing crime at sites handling waste, and introducing fixed penalties for waste duty of care

We want to know what you think about our proposals to reduce crime and poor performance in the waste sector. We are looking to do this by enforcing more appropriate competence standards for permitted waste site operators. We’re also proposing to make changes to waste exemptions to prevent them being used to hide illegal activity.

We are also asking your views on best ways to improve householder awareness of their waste duty of care. As part of this, we are proposing the introduction of a fixed penalty for householders failing to pass their waste to authorised waste carriers. This fixed penalty will provide local authorities with a more proportionate and less costly enforcement tool than prosecuting in court.