Understanding Waste Management

We understand that waste management can be confusing at times, which is why we have created the CheaperWaste Jargon Buster to give you all the information you need.

The Legal Stuff

  • Landfill Tax
    This is a tax applied to all waste that is disposed of by landfill. This is calculated according to the weight of the material disposed of. Landfill operators are responsible for paying the tax and pass the cost on to businesses and local councils on top of normal landfill fees. VAT is charged on the landfill fees and the landfill tax.
  • Environmental Protection Act 1990
    The UK act of parliament relating to controlled wastes and makes provision for the management of pollution from industrial processes. The Act deals with issues relating to waste on land, defining all aspects of waste management and places a duty on local authorities to collect waste. As a business, you must ensure that any waste your company produces is handled safely and within the law. This is your ‘duty of care’.
  • Duty of Care
    The duty of care is the list of responsibilities a company has, to make sure everyone is safe. Businesses are responsible for making sure their waste is transferred to a responsible holder to deal with it correctly.
  • Waste Transfer Note or Duty of Care
    A waste transfer note (WTN) or Duty of Care (DOC) is a document that details the transfer of waste from one person (or business) to another. Any business that produces, handles or disposes of waste has a legal obligation to hold a Waste Transfer Note under Duty of Care legislation.
  • Weight Allowance
    This is the amount of waste you can put in your bin; this will be marked on your Duty of Care document. This charge is linked to the Landfill tax – if you exceed this amount you will be subject to excess charges.

Types of Waste

  • WEEE
    WEEE is waste electrical and electronic equipment and covers almost every appliance with a plug or a battery.
  • Dry mixed recycling (DMR)
    This method of recycling allows recyclable material such as paper, cardboard, plastic bottles and tin cans to be disposed of in a single bin.
  • Glass Collections
    This is a single stream waste collection method for glass only. This can include empty bottles and jars.
  • Hazardous Waste
    Hazardous waste is any waste product that has considerable or potential risks to public health or the environment. It can include batteries, fluorescent tubes, paint, oils and chemicals.
  • Clinical waste
    Clinical waste is described as waste produced that may cause offence or pose a risk of infection. This can include swabs, bandages, dressings, needles, syringes blades, nappies, incontinence waste, sanitary waste, or any waste that may prove hazardous to public health.
  • Food Waste
    Is all inedible and edible parts of food that is created before and after food processing, production and consumption. It can contain small bones such as chicken bones from a takeaway but can’t include larger bones such as from a butcher. These require specific certificates for disposing of within an ABP (animal-by-product) bin.
  • Secure Document Services
    This is the safe disposal of confidential documentation.

Your Invoice and Service

  • Unit Price or Lift Cost
    Unit Price or Lift Cost – The lift rate is the charge for us to collect your rubbish on each collection. To calculate your monthly invoice, we spread the costs over the whole year equally to ensure your invoices don’t fluctuate. So, for example, if you have weekly collections, we multiply your collections by 52 (weeks in the year) and then divide the cost of the 52 collections by 12 (months of the year) to produce your monthly invoice. We do this so that you can accurately budget for your year ahead.
  • Rental Charge
    This is the charge for supplying your bin.
  • Schedule of Service
    This is how often we will collect your bin. The schedule may change around public holidays so please remember to check this regularly.
  • Usage rates
    This is the cost for your services; we detail these on the invoice as the quantity used and the price per item – this means you know exactly what you are paying for on each invoice.
  • One-off Rates
    This is the charge for single-use services or single items such as your Duty of Care (DOC) or regulatory charges.
  • Your Contract
    CheaperWaste only supply business to business services and contracts will be made verbally and followed up with an electronically signed document. Following an offer and an acceptance of our services, the contract is binding. There is no automatic “cooling off period”. For more information about business contracts please click here.