Your obligations under the duty of care are set out in the Government’s Code of Practice. Some further information on this can be found on our website:
There are new obligations to apply the waste hierarchy to your decisions on waste management options when you transfer waste and to declare on transfer notes that you have done so. Transfer notes will also have to include a Standard Industry Classification (SIC) code for your business sector.
Guidance on the hierarchy in England is available on the Defra website:
Guidance on the hierarchy in Wales will be available from the Welsh Government soon.
Guidance on SIC codes is available from the Office for National Statistics:
Government’s statutory guidance on duty of care, the Code of Practice, is being updated to include recent changes in legislation and in best practice. You should look to this in the first instance. It applies in England and Wales.
Look out for a Government consultation on the Code of Practice later in 2011 and use the opportunity to comment on it. The final version is available in both hard copy and electronic form. It will be formatted in such a way that obligations are described for every role (producer, carrier, broker, waste manager, and similar) in an easily downloaded form.
You will also find duty of care guidance on our website:
In addition you could visit the Business Link website:
Also, discuss your obligations under the duty of care with your waste contractor and/or local authority.
The changes to transfer notes take effect on 28 September 2011. Before that date, you can use up old stocks of waste transfer notes and hazardous waste consignment notes if you wish. This six-month period will give an opportunity for the printing of new notes which contain the waste hierarchy declaration and room for inclusion of the SIC code.
If you are considering re-ordering transfer notes then we advise you either to take into account these changes or to order only sufficient notes to last until September 2011, when the changes take effect.
If you are looking to redesign transfer notes for yourself or customers then there is no reason preventing you from including these changes in your new design and subsequently using them before 28 September 2011.
This is the Standard Industry Classification code for your industry.
The system is identical to the EUROSTAT System NACE at the four-digit class level and the United Nations system ISIC at the two-digit Divisional level. This NACE system will be used from 2015.
For further information visit the Office for National Statistics website:
For hazardous waste the requirement is to continue to use 2003 codes as at present. You need to use the correct 2003 SIC code in order to register as a hazardous waste producer. However we have recently issued a position statement stating that we will not generally pursue breaches of the requirement to use SIC (2003) codes on hazardous waste consignment notes.
For all non-hazardous wastes the 2007 SIC codes must be used on waste transfer notes.
We have a conversion table so that you can determine 2003 and equivalent 2007 codes for your industry sector:
Determining your SIC code is a one-off task as this will then be used on all subsequent notes.
The requirement to include SIC codes in transfer notes for non-hazardous waste is new, and is required by the regulations. The 2007 codes are the most up to date versions.
However, consignment notes have required the use of 2003 SIC codes since 2005, and Government considered that it would be too problematic for businesses to change this requirement at this time. Although if you can, you should continue to use SIC (2003) codes on consignment notes, we have issued a position statement stating that we will not generally pursue breaches of this requirement.
In 2015 a new coding system (NACE) will be introduced across the European Union. At that time both consignment notes and transfer notes will be required to apply this new coding system.
The United Kingdom Standard Industrial Classification of Economic Activities (SIC) is used to classify business establishments and other standard units by the type of economic activity in which they are engaged. It provides a framework for the collection, tabulation, presentation and analysis of data and its use promotes uniformity. In addition, it can be used for administrative purposes and by non-government bodies as a convenient way of classifying industrial activities into a common structure.
SIC information is therefore valuable to help make strategic planning decisions, for example on the need for waste infrastructure. It is also required for providing data to the European Commission.
