Business waste and recycling

Northumberland County Council aim to help local businesses choose the right waste disposal and recycling options.

Business waste is not permitted at any of the Northumberland Household Waste Recovery Centres (HWRCs). This includes landlord waste and property development waste (also classed as business or commercial waste).

• Please click here to view the business waste services leaflet.
• Please click here for our talk rubbish to save money leaflet.
• Please click here for the business waste direct debit mandate.
• Please click here to view the review your waste leaflet.
• Please click here to view the resource efficiency guide from WRAP.

You can also visit the Recycle-More website for more advice.
 
Garden waste
 
To ask about a kerbside garden waste bin from the council, please call us on 0345 600 6400.
 
Skip hire
 
Visit the Skipandbin website here. They have a database of over 1,000 licensed skip hire companies from across the UK.
 
Holiday accommodation waste
 
If you have arranged for recycling collections from the council, please click here to download and print out the recycling poster for your guests at your holiday accommodation.

The council provides a range of high-quality, reliable business waste collection and recycling services that will benefit your business and the environment:

• We can collect your recyclable material at a reduced cost.
• Your non-recyclable business waste is converted to fuel to supply electricity for the National Grid and isn’t buried in landfill sites that harm the environment.
• Businesses can also request a quotation for the collection of bulky waste items.

 

New customers

If you are a new customer, please click here to request a quotation or information about the trade waste collection service.
 

Change your details

If you need to change any details, please call us on 0345 600 6400.
 

Bulky waste

Please click here to request a quotation or more information about the bulky waste collection service.
 

Charities

If you’re a charity, or not-for-profit organisation, who delivers benefits to the local community, you could qualify for free waste collection. This is if you generate no more waste than a domestic property (240 litres of general waste and 240 litres of recycling).

• Apply for free waste collection - charities and not-for-profit organisations
• Report a damaged trade waste bin
• Request a quote or information about trade waste collection
• Report a missed trade waste collection
• Request delivery of bags and sacks

Agricultural waste officially became controlled in May 2006. It is subject to legislation called The Waste Management Regulations 2006 (England and Wales). This is also known as Statutory Instrument 2006, no. 937.

Businesses have a duty of care to dispose of any hazardous waste such as dangerous chemicals or asbestos in a responsible way which won’t harm the public, employees, or the environment.

There are strict controls on the disposal, recovery, and movement of hazardous waste due to its potential harm to human health or the environment.

Please click here to find out more about hazardous waste from the Environment Agency.
 

Asbestos

If you are a trades person doing any building works, it is very important that you have had training so that you know where you might find asbestos during work you are carrying out and which types of asbestos to completely avoid.
 
Please click here for more information about where you may find asbestos in your business premises.

• Health and Safety Executive:
  • please click here for the asbestos essentials task manual
  • this task manual is for building, maintenance, and allied trades on how to safely carry out non-licensed work involving asbestos
• Training requirements:
  • The Asbestos Removal Contractor Association
  • Health and Safety Executive
• Advice about asbestos removal:
  • The Asbestos Removal Contractors Association (ARCA)
  • Vega Environmental Consultants Ltd 
  • The Health and Safety Executive (HSE)
  • Asbestos Licensing explained

 Chemicals

• Cleansing Services Group (CSG)
• Waste Care
• Adler and Allan
• All Waste Matters
• Veolia

If you are a business, it would be a good idea to have an audit to set up a waste management plan.

Disclaimer: All information was correct at the time of publication (February 2020).

Is my business compliant with the rules and regulations of waste disposal?

The Environment Agency provides information on waste regulations, waste carriers’ licences, duty of care, and environmental information and advice.
 
Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) from businesses
 

• The WEEE regulations include discarded electrical items such as fridges, TVs, and printers.
• The regulations state that it is the responsibility of the business to arrange for the collection and disposal of the waste.
• It is not the council’s responsibility.

 

Compliance with the Controlled Waste Regulations 2012

All councils have a duty to arrange for the collection of household waste and may arrange to collect commercial and industrial waste.
 
The Controlled Waste Regulations (CWR) of 2012 identify whether the council may charge collection fees and disposal fees for both residential and commercial locations.
 
Please click here for the full classification of waste types listed in the CWR 2012.

   

Location	Collection charge	Disposal charge
A place of worship	No	No
A caravan or mobile home belonging to gypsies and travellers	No	No
Waste from premises wholly or mainly used for public meetings	Yes	No
Waste from a charity shop selling donated goods originating from domestic property	Yes	Yes (only non-domestic waste)
Waste from premises occupied by a community interest company, charity, or not for profit body, which collects goods for reuse or waste to prepare for reuse from domestic property	Yes	Yes (only non-domestic waste)
Waste from a residential home	Yes	Yes
Waste from premises forming part of a university, school or other educational establishment	Yes	Yes (unless the local authority collected the waste prior to 6th April 2012)
Waste forming part of a hospital or nursing home except for waste from a residential hostel (see above)	Yes	Yes
Waste from a penal institution	Yes	Yes
Self-catering accommodation, campsites and caravan parks (either for self-catering accommodation or not allowed to be used throughout the year)	Yes	Yes (unless eligible for free disposal prior to 6th April 2012 & eligible for Small Business Rate Relief)
Premises occupied by a charity and wholly or mainly used for charitable purposes	Yes (unless from a place of worship or used for public meetings which is treated as household waste)	Yes (unless from a place of worship or used for public meetings which is treated as household waste)
Premises occupied by a club, society etc. whose activities are conducted for the benefit of its members	Yes	Yes

PLEASE NOTE: Charges may vary depending on your circumstances, like the size and number of your bins, frequency of collection, type of waste and whether or not we charge for collection and disposal.

If you need to speak to a Waste Management Officer, please see the email addresses below for who to contact in your area:

Please note that the following email addresses are for business waste enquiries only.
 
For the Northern area, please contact Julie Case at julie.case@northumberland.gov.uk.
 
For the West and Central area, please contact Kevin Ferrol at 
kevin.ferrol@northumberland.gov.uk.
 
For the South East area, please contact Matthew Swaddle at 
matthew.swaddle@northumberland.gov.uk.