Waste contractor's guide to recycling construction waste

At every stage during sorting and handling, you should process construction waste to optimise material recovery and diversion from landfill.

The waste you handle must be accompanied by a waste transfer note from the time it leaves the producer until it reaches its final destination. The waste transfer note must have a European Waste Catalogue (EWC) code that identifies the waste to each person that handles it. You must also handle and store waste so that you avoid harm to people or the environment.

You can only handle hazardous waste if you are authorised to do so by the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA). Hazardous waste includes asbestos and materials contaminated by oil and chemicals. For information on how to comply with hazardous waste controls.

You should ensure there is regular communication, for example with two-way radios, between the weighbridge and personnel working at your materials recovery facility. This enables weighbridge staff who are given waste transfer notes by skip drivers to inform colleagues in the waste receiving bay about incoming waste, and in return they can be quickly alerted should non-conforming waste be tipped.

You should work closely with waste producers and, where possible, visit construction and demolition projects in advance. Once the waste begins to arise, you should perform a series of checks verifying that material placed by waste producers into skips (or other containers) conforms to details entered on documentation. By doing this you can identify any non-conformities quickly and feedback to the customer.