Anyone can buy a van and put a phone number on the side. This page tells you how to check whether they should be taking your waste – and how to check us.
Our registration
We are registered with Natural Resources Wales as an upper tier waste carrier. Upper tier is the correct registration for a business that carries waste produced by other people, which is exactly what a rubbish removal firm does. It is not the free lower-tier registration, which only covers a business moving its own waste.
Our registration number is shown in the footer of every page of this website, and you can look it up yourself here:
The register lists over 18,000 active registrations and is searchable by name or registration number. It shows the trading name, address, tier, registration date and expiry date. It takes about a minute.
Wales is not regulated by the Environment Agency
This trips up almost everybody, including most of the national price guides you will find online, and including some of the advice other waste companies publish.
In England, waste carriers register with the Environment Agency. In Wales, they register with Natural Resources Wales. If a company covering Caerphilly, Cardiff or Newport tells you to “check us on the Environment Agency register” without explaining that they are based in England, that is worth a second look.
Welsh registration numbers begin with CBDU for upper tier and CBDL for lower tier.
Why it matters to you, not just to us
Under section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, you have a duty of care over your own household waste. Section 34(2A) puts it on the occupier of the property to take all reasonable measures to make sure waste is only transferred to an authorised person.
In Wales, the Household Waste Duty of Care (Fixed Penalties) (Wales) Regulations 2019 mean that failing to do that can bring a fixed penalty notice of £300, reduced to £150 if paid within ten days. Unlike England, that is a fixed amount rather than a range.
This is not automatic liability. The Welsh Government’s own guidance to councils is clear that tracing fly-tipped waste back to a household does not by itself prove a breach of the duty of care. The offence is failing to take reasonable steps to check, not the fact that somebody dumped your waste. If you checked properly, you have done what the law asks of you.
How to check anyone in two minutes
- Ask for their waste carrier registration number. A legitimate carrier will give it without hesitating. In Wales it starts with CBDU.
- Look it up on the NRW public register. Check the name on the register matches the business you are dealing with, and that the registration has not expired.
- Note the vehicle registration. Takes five seconds and is the single most useful thing you can have if something goes wrong.
- Get a receipt with their business details on it.
- If they will not give you a number, do not hand over the waste or the money. Natural Resources Wales specifically warns about waste removers advertising on social media with no carrier reference number.
You do not legally have to keep the evidence, and as a householder you do not need to complete or keep waste transfer notes – those are a business requirement. But keeping a photo of the registration number and the van costs you nothing.
Insurance
We carry public liability insurance. We want to be precise about this because a lot of waste company websites are not: public liability insurance is not a legal requirement for a waste carrier. It is good practice, and we carry it because working in people’s homes without it would be indefensible – but any firm telling you it is “legally required” is overstating the position.
Employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement for any business with employees, under the Employers’ Liability (Compulsory Insurance) Act 1969, with a £5 million minimum.
Ask us for certificates and we will send them over. Ask anyone else, too.
Waste transfer notes
For every commercial collection we issue a waste transfer note as standard, describing the waste in words and with its code, the quantity, how it was contained, both parties’ details and the date and place of transfer. Businesses must keep these for two years. Householders do not need one, but if you would like written confirmation of what we took and where it went, just ask – we will give you it.
What we will not pretend to be licensed for
We are not licensed to remove asbestos, and nor should we be without an HSE licence. We do not take gas cylinders, chemicals, oils, tyres or clinical waste. A firm that says yes to everything is a firm you should be wary of.