The owner of a roofing business from Salisbury has been issued with a fixed penalty notice after passing on his commercial waste to a ‘man in a van’ who fly-tipped it.

The business was conducting roofing works on a property and instead of managing the waste via a skip or another lawful method, the owner simply allowed someone to remove and fly-tip the waste for cash.

The owner has been fined £300 after the waste was dumped in a garage area on the Friary Estate in the city.

Environmental Enforcement Officers from Wiltshire Council investigated the incident, which resulted in the roofer being interviewed under caution. He admitted that he did not comply with his duty of care as a business to lawfully manage the commercial waste produced through his roofing activity.

Cllr Dr Mark McClelland, Cabinet Member for Transport and Waste, said, “It is important that all businesses take responsibility for the waste they produce as part of their business activity. Simply handing waste to a rogue trader to fly-tip in Wiltshire is not acceptable and we will not tolerate it.

“All businesses have a legal duty of care to lawfully manage their commercial waste in line with the Environmental Protection Act 1990.”

Commercial waste includes anything a business owns, produces or acquires that they require to be removed or wish to throw away. This can range from office waste such as paper, packaging and equipment to unwanted items.

This also includes:

Waste produced while working at private households (the business working on the property is responsible for managing the waste they produce resulting from their activity, not the householder or business they are doing the work for).
Waste produced by contractors working on their business premises.
Home-based working.

Any waste produced from business activities is classed as business waste. This must be kept separate from household waste and it must be arranged for it to be collected separately.