Householder's duty of care

Householder's duty of care

Who's taking your waste away?

As a householder, it's your responsibility to make sure that your rubbish is disposed of properly.

Whether that's putting household waste in the right bin, taking items to the household recycling centre, or arranging for waste to be taken away for you, you must make sure that it is done properly (and legally).

If your rubbish is found dumped or fly-tipped, you could face a fixed penalty notice - even though you didn't do it yourself.


Find out about:


Having waste taken away for you

Bulky waste collections

If you have larger items that you can't take to the household waste recycling centre yourself, we can arrange a bulky waste collection for you. Find out what items we can dispose of for you.

Using a waste removal company

If you ask or employ someone to take rubbish away for you, they must be a registered waste carrier or licenced scrap metal collector - you can trust approved carriers to dispose of your waste properly for you. Never use an individual or company that isn't registered - even if they offer to do it for free.

The carrier must give you a waste transfer note, and you should also keep a note of their details in case you need them later.  

If your waste gets dumped

Rubbish that is dumped illegally is fly-tipping, and anyone that fly-tips faces legal action.

If we trace fly-tipped waste back to you, you could be issued with fixed penalty notice.

This is because you should have disposed of your rubbish properly, or employed a registered carrier to do it for you - claiming that you didn't know about the law is no defence.


Seen someone fly-tipping? Report it here