Trade Waste Information 2025-25

4. Duty of Care and Declarations

Duty of Care

Enclosed with your information pack is a Duty of Care Controlled Waste Transfer Note.

This is a legal document between Oldham Council and your business stating that the waste produced by your business is disposed of legally and responsibly.

The completion of the duty of care form is legally mandatory and you risk being fined up to £5,000 by the government’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) if the documentation is not completed properly and returned.
Filling in your ‘Duty of Care’:

1)    Section A – This has been completed for you
2)    Section B – Please provide full contact details of your business
3)    Section C – Please complete as below:

  • C1 – Are you the producer of the waste? (Is this rubbish the Council collects generated from the site detailed in Section B?).
  • C2 – Please tick which of the four rubbish and recycling materials you currently have collected through your trade waste contract with the Council.
  • C3 – Please state the number of bins you have on site (as per Section B).
  •  C4 – A SIC code is used to best describe the type of business you run.
  • Please use the SIC Codes notes to choose the most appropriate code for your business.
  • C5 – Please tick to show that you have read the waste hierarchy guidance information below the SIC codes box

4)    Section D – Please sign and date the Duty of Care form and return the white copy in the freepost envelope provided.

The Waste Hierarchy Declaration

There is a five-step waste hierarchy that applies to anyone who produces or manages waste. The hierarchy was introduced as part of the revised EU Waste Framework Directive.
All waste should be managed, in order of preference, by:

  1. Prevention
  2. Preparing for re-use
  3. Recycling
  4. Other recovery (for example energy recovery)
  5. Disposal

Presentation of Waste

There are many sources of guidance on how to apply the waste hierarchy to waste, some of which will be available on DEFRA’s website or the Waste Resources Action Programme (WRAP) website.

Make sure all your waste is contained within your bin.

Overfilled bins will not be emptied and any additional waste not contained within the bin will not be collected.

Please see the examples below.

Image of bins 2

Hazardous Wastes

Please note, the bins provided are for municipal waste streams only and under no circumstances should they be used for hazardous wastes, including:

  • Lightbulbs
  • Batteries
  • Electrical equipment
  • Paints, solvents and other chemicals
  • Explosives
  • Flammables
  • Liquids
  • Corrosives

For more information about what common items are hazardous waste, please visit: