Millions of small businesses in Britain could face prosecution for illegally disposing their hazardous waste, waste management company Biffa has found.

The finding comes from an online survey carried out by Biffa last month, which asked over 1,000 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) what they know about hazardous wastes such as aerosols, light bulbs, batteries and oily rags.

It found that 80 per cent of SMEs might be disposing of their hazardous waste illegally.

Survey details

According to the ‘Research into businesses awareness of the issues, risks and regulations for hazardous waste’, there is some confusion as to what constitutes ‘hazardous waste’.

Although 95 per cent of respondents said it was not confusing, 32 said they were not confident that their employees knew how to identify and dispose of hazardous waste correctly.

Further to this, when asked to identify what ‘best defines’ hazardous waste, nine per cent thought that any waste not correctly bagged was hazardous, four per cent said large items that could cause crush injuries (such as concrete slabs) were hazardous, and around the same number identified ‘food waste that has been allowed to rot’ as hazardous.

Materials such as plastic and glass were also incorrectly identified by around a quarter of respondents as being types of hazardous waste.

Although the majority of people correctly identified batteries as hazardous, only 40 per cent knew that electrical wiring is also classed as hazardous waste.

Finally, despite it being a legal requirement for businesses to collect hazardous wastes such as aerosols, light bulbs, batteries and oily rags separately for treatment and disposal at least once a year (under the Hazardous Waste Regulations), only 20 per cent of businesses said they had separate collections for this waste, and just over half (55 per cent) of respondents were aware that there are fines and penalties for incorrect disposal of this waste.

“The best thing to do is get informed”

Speaking of the findings, Biffa’s CEO Ian Wakelin, said: “The problem arises because many small business are only generating tiny amounts of hazardous wastes, so they don’t think putting it in the normal rubbish bin is a problem.

“When an item of hazardous waste is incorrectly thrown into the recycling, it can result in the whole container having to go to landfill. The best thing to do is get informed.”

He concluded: “Our survey has shown that businesses are keen to become more environmentally-friendly, but many don’t know how. Making sure their hazardous waste is treated properly is an easy next-step, whilst also importantly protecting them from prosecution.”

Biffa is now encouraging businesses to arrange for a suitable collection service for their hazardous waste, such as its HazDirect service.

Read about the national policy statement on hazardous waste.