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Commercial waste glossary
Terms that come up in commercial waste, defined plainly.
- Fly-tippingDumping waste on land without permission.
- Waste carrier licenceThe Environment Agency registration a collector must hold.
- SIC codeThe five-digit code for what your business does, needed on a transfer note.
- Dry mixed recyclingClean, dry recyclables collected together and sorted later.
- WEEEWaste electrical and electronic equipment: anything with a plug or a battery.
- Anaerobic digestionHow separated food waste becomes gas and fertiliser.
- Waste transfer noteThe document that records a load of waste changing hands.
- EWC codesThe six-digit codes that classify every type of waste.
- Waste hierarchyThe legal order of preference: prevent, reuse, recycle, recover, dispose.
- Transfer stationThe permitted site where collection vehicles unload and loads are sorted.
- General wasteWhat is left after recyclables and food are taken out.
- Digital waste trackingThe government's planned replacement for paper transfer notes.
- Energy from wasteBurning residual waste to generate electricity instead of landfilling it.
- Simpler RecyclingThe English rules that make workplaces separate recycling, food and general waste.
- Landfill taxThe per-tonne tax on waste sent to landfill.
- POPsPersistent organic pollutants: the chemicals that send old sofas to incineration.
- Commercial wasteWaste from premises used for a trade or business.
- Wait and loadA caged tipper waits while the load goes on, then leaves.
- Trade wasteThe everyday name for commercial waste.
- Hazardous waste consignment noteThe document that must travel with hazardous waste.
- Materials recovery facilityThe plant that sorts dry mixed recycling into materials.
- Duty of careThe legal responsibility for your waste until it is safely disposed of.
- Residual wasteThe official name for general waste.
- List of Waste codeThe current name for an EWC code.
- Controlled wasteHousehold, commercial and industrial waste: everything the duty of care covers.
- Upper tier waste carrierThe registration a collector needs to carry other people's waste.
- Pre-paid sackA printed waste bag whose price includes collection and disposal.
- Section 34The duty of care clause in the Environmental Protection Act 1990.
- Annual waste transfer noteOne transfer note covering a year of regular collections.