Your duty to dispose of waste responsibly

We all have a responsibility to ensure that the waste we produce is disposed of responsibility and in accordance with the Law.  This is referred to as a legal Duty of Care.

As a resident of Solihull you have a legal duty of care to make sure that your waste is only collected by a registered waste carrier.

How can I ensure that my waste is disposed of correctly?

Unlicensed carriers may be tempted to illegally fly-tip your waste to avoid the charges for proper disposal. If fly tipped waste is tracked back to you, you could face a fine of up to £5,000.

If your waste is not collected by Solihull Council or our approved contract partners or Solihull Community Housing you should always carry out the following checks:

• Don’t be afraid to ask questions – if someone illegally dumps your waste it becomes your responsibility, you can reduce the risk of this happening by asking what will happen to the items they collected or evidence that it will be legally disposed of
• Ask for details of their waste carrier registration – you can check someone is registered by searching the Environment Agency's public register of waste carriers or calling 03708 506 506
• Record their vehicle registration number
• Ask for a proper invoice and receipt
• Never accept offers from someone who knocks your door and offers to take your waste. Get more than one quote and expect to pay a reasonable fee an unusually low quote, or even an offer to collect your items for free should raise concern and be treated with suspicion

Remember SCRAP

• S - Suspect ALL waste carriers
• C – Check with the Environment Agency that the provider taking your waste away is licensed
• R – Refuse unexpected offers to have waste taken away
• A - Ask what will happen to your waste
• P - Paperwork should be obtained – get a full receipt

Scrap metal dealers

Scrap metals dealers who collect from Solihull should be licensed. Before letting a scrap metal dealer take your items please check that they have their license on them.

If they do not have a license it is worth considering if its more reliable to get rid of your items by booking a bulky waste collection or visiting our household waste recycling centre.

While it may seem easier to put items such as a fridge out for collection by a scrap metal dealer, some dealers may only strip the metal from your fridge and dump the rest. 

If this happens you are ultimately responsible so please make sure to only use licensed scrap metal dealers.

What is Fly-tipping?

You may have seen on local news examples of large commercial fly-tips blocking country roads or left in farmers fields.  However, while large in scale, these tend to be the minority. 

Around two thirds of fly- tips are household waste and some of us may even be unaware of activities that are considered to be fly-tipping.

Activities that are fly-tipping and that you could be fined for include:

• Leaving donations outside a closed charity shop
• Leaving rubbish/items outside a closed Household Waste Recycling Centre
• Leaving rubbish/items next to a recycling bank 
• Leaving rubbish next to a litter bin (unless this is part of an agreed litter picking collection point)
• Leaving rubbish outside your property for a scrap collector
• Leaving rubbish on the floor of a communal bin area
• Leaving rubbish outside your property on any other day other than your scheduled waste collection day (unless you have been instructed to leave your bin/bags out by the council).