Why a Duty of Care?

The Duty of Care established a regulatory regime which is clearly intended by the government to be a largely self policing scheme, where "all waste holders will wish to protect themselves against the consequences of misbehaviour by any other party in the waste chain."

The origins of this approach reflect the history of an industry regulated by more than 170 autonomous local authorities working within non-statutory guidelines. This led to widely variable standards and entirely unequal competition between operators active in different parts of the United Kingdom. This in turn led to a spiralling downwards in disposal standards where reputable companies investing in state-of-the-art technology and methods faced an unfair price war with less scrupulous operators.

The Duty of Care was drafted to remedy that trend by putting a legal responsibility firmly on the waste producer to achieve lawful waste management. Subsequently the duties of the waste regulation authorities have been brought into the Environment Agency.