You will need to ensure that all waste is treated before sending it to landfill. You can either treat waste yourself, or ensure that a later holder of the waste will treat it before it is landfilled.

Treatment is defined as a physical, thermal, chemical or biological process, which changes the characteristics of the waste by reducing the volume or hazardous nature of the waste or makes handling the waste easier.

However you treat your waste, it is a good idea to produce a written declaration. This should state:

Who has treated the waste;
The type of treatment that has occurred (if any); and
The amount of waste that has been sorted out for recovery or alternative treatment (if relevant).

You must check that the landfill site is allowed to take your waste by ensuring that any landfill operator receiving your waste has an environmental permit . The permit will specify what waste can be accepted at the site.

Wastes that cannot be sent to landfill include:

All liquids;
Whole and shredded tyres (not including bicycle tyres or tyres with an outside diameter greater than 1.4 metres);
Clinical waste from medical or veterinary establishments;
Waste that may be explosive, corrosive, flammable or oxidizing under landfill conditions; and
New or unidentified chemicals whose effects on man and the environment are not known.

Duty of Care

You have a duty of care as you are legally responsible for ensuring that waste your business produces or handles is stored, transported, treated, reprocessed and disposed of safely. The duty of care has no time limit. You are specifically responsible for your waste from when you produce it until you have transferred it to an authorised person. If you think that your waste is not being managed correctly you must take action to check and prevent this. You must keep records of all transfers of your waste.

Penalties & Implications of non-compliance:

Breach is liable to a fine and imprisonment.

Further Information:

NetRegs: http://www.netregs.gov.uk