Environment agency - licence to carry waste

I'm a sole trader, self employed gardener. The waste recycling centre has said that anyone carrying green waste needs an EA licence. I have browsed the EA website and asked around about this matter. Does this apply to bulk waste carriers only? I dispose of small amounts at any given time which does not include any toxic waste. help!!!

 

Welcome to Gardeners Corner John

Sorry, I had the same problem in the building trade, you're not allowed to carry any trade waste without a licence.

I got round it by putting some small print in the contract, saying I wasn't a licenced waste carrier but i'd be happy to supply a quote for a skip or leave it to the client to dispose of.

 

I've been taking several bags of green waste to the recycling centre every week for the last few months, never heard of this before.

 

The public are allowed to, but if you're trade you can't use the recycling centres or transport any kind of waste without a licence.

 

How small is small....? you could maybe get away with it if it's only a few bags at a time

 

Our recycling centre has got cctv with number plate recognition. Could get fined thousands for dumping trade waste.

It's best left to the customer to get rid of it.

 

I've even read about an EA Inspector seeing a tradesperson get out of his works van to put his takeaway lunch packaging into a litter bin and doing them for illegally disposing of 'trade waste'.

 

Make you wonder why anyone bothers being self employed in this country.

When I was I had to pay class 2 N.I. contributions, which meant if I couldn't get any work I wasn't entitled to J.S.A.

Then when I made a profit I had to pay Class 4 as well.

When I was signed off sick with broken ribs I was told i'm not entitled to sickness benefit as I should expect periods of illness and price jobs to cover it.

Then I had the fun of being investigated by HMRC, who accused me of trying to claim sickness benefit while I was running a team of blokes. (I was a sole trader at the time.)

And the joy of having to pay an accountant as the tax returns were often beyond my comprehension. Quantum mechanics are easier to understand.

On top of that, they are still sending me tax returns even though they know i've not traded for years.

Oh, and they kept all my tax that I paid on account because I couldn't log onto their website last year to complete a nil return.

Rant over