Environmental Protection Act 1990

75 Meaning of “waste” and household, commercial and industrial waste and special waste. E+W

(1) The following provisions apply for the interpretation of this Part.

(2) “Waste” includes—

(a) any substance which constitutes a scrap material or an effluent or other unwanted surplus substance arising from the application of any process; and

(b) any substance or article which requires to be disposed of as being broken, worn out, contaminated or otherwise spoiled;

but does not include a substance which is an explosive within the meaning of the M1 Explosives Act 1875.

(3) Any thing which is discarded or otherwise dealt with as if it were waste shall be presumed to be waste unless the contrary is proved.

(4) “Controlled waste” means household, industrial and commercial waste or any such waste.

(5) Subject to subsection (8) below, “household waste” means waste from—

(a) domestic property, that is to say, a building or self-contained part of a building which is used wholly for the purposes of living accommodation;

(b) a caravan (as defined in section 29(1) of the M2 Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960) which usually and for the time being is situated on a caravan site (within the meaning of that Act);

(c) a residential home;

(d) premises forming part of a university or school or other educational establishment;

(e) premises forming part of a hospital or nursing home.

(6) Subject to subsection (8) below, “industrial waste” means waste from any of the following premises—

(a) any factory (within the meaning of the M3 Factories Act 1961);

(b) any premises used for the purposes of, or in connection with, the provision to the public of transport services by land, water or air;

(c) any premises used for the purposes of, or in connection with, the supply to the public of gas, water or electricity or the provision of sewerage services; or

(d) any premises used for the purposes of, or in connection with, the provision to the public of postal or telecommunications services.

(7) Subject to subsection (8) below, “commercial waste” means waste from premises used wholly or mainly for the purposes of a trade or business or the purposes of sport, recreation or entertainment excluding—

(a) household waste;

(b) industrial waste;

(c) waste from any mine or quarry and waste from premises used for agriculture within the meaning of the M4 Agriculture Act 1947 or, in Scotland, the M5 Agriculture (Scotland) Act 1948; and

(d) waste of any other description prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this paragraph.

(8) Regulations made by the Secretary of State may provide that waste of a description prescribed in the regulations shall be treated for the purposes of provisions of this Part prescribed in the regulations as being or not being household waste or industrial waste or commercial waste; but no regulations shall be made in respect of such waste as is mentioned in subsection (7)(c) above and references to waste in subsection (7) above and this subsection do not include sewage (including matter in or from a privy) except so far as the regulations provide otherwise.

(9) “Special waste” means controlled waste as respects which regulations are in force under section 62 above.

Extent Information

E1 This version of this provision extends to England and Wales only; a separate version has been created for Scotland only.

Commencement Information

I2 S. 75 wholly in force at 31.5.1991 see s. 164(3) and S.I. 1991/1319, art. 2

Marginal Citations

M1 1875 c. 17.

M2 1960 c. 62.

M3 1961 c. 34.

M4 1947 c. 48.

M5 1948 c. 45.

75 Meaning of “waste” and household, commercial and industrial waste and special waste. S

(1) The following provisions apply for the interpretation of this Part.

[F1 (2) “Waste” means any substance or object in the categories set out in Schedule 2B to this Act which the holder discards or intends or is required to discard; and for the purposes of this definition—

• “holder” means the producer of the waste or the person who is in possession of it; and

• “producer” means any person whose activities produce waste or any person who carries out pre-processing, mixing or other operations resulting in a change in the nature or composition of this waste.]

[F2 (3) Any thing which is discarded or otherwise dealt with as if it were waste shall be presumed to be waste unless the contrary is proved.]

(4) “Controlled waste” means household, industrial and commercial waste or any such waste.

(5) Subject to subsection (8) below, “household waste” means waste from—

(a) domestic property, that is to say, a building or self-contained part of a building which is used wholly for the purposes of living accommodation;

(b) a caravan (as defined in section 29(1) of the M6 Caravan Sites and Control of Development Act 1960) which usually and for the time being is situated on a caravan site (within the meaning of that Act);

(c) a residential home;

(d) premises forming part of a university or school or other educational establishment;

(e) premises forming part of a hospital or [F3 which are used to provide a care home service (as defined by section 2(3) of the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001 (asp 8))].

(6) Subject to subsection (8) below, “industrial waste” means waste from any of the following premises—

(a) any factory (within the meaning of the M7 Factories Act 1961);

(b) any premises used for the purposes of, or in connection with, the provision to the public of transport services by land, water or air;

(c) any premises used for the purposes of, or in connection with, the supply to the public of gas, water or electricity or the provision of sewerage services; or

(d) any premises used for the purposes of, or in connection with, the provision to the public of postal or telecommunications services.

(7) Subject to subsection (8) below, “commercial waste” means waste from premises used wholly or mainly for the purposes of a trade or business or the purposes of sport, recreation or entertainment excluding—

(a) household waste;

(b) industrial waste;

(c) waste from any mine or quarry and waste from premises used for agriculture within the meaning of the M8 Agriculture Act 1947 or, in Scotland, the M9 Agriculture (Scotland) Act 1948; and

(d) waste of any other description prescribed by regulations made by the Secretary of State for the purposes of this paragraph.

(8) Regulations made by the Secretary of State may provide that waste of a description prescribed in the regulations shall be treated for the purposes of provisions of this Part prescribed in the regulations as being or not being household waste or industrial waste or commercial waste; but no regulations shall be made in respect of such waste as is mentioned in subsection (7)(c) above and references to waste in subsection (7) above and this subsection do not include sewage (including matter in or from a privy) except so far as the regulations provide otherwise.

(9) “Special waste” means controlled waste as respects which regulations are in force under section 62 above.

[F4 (10) Schedule 2B to this Act (which reproduces Annex I to the Waste Directive) shall have effect.

(11) Subsection (2) above is substituted, and Schedule 2B to this Act is inserted, for the purpose of assigning to “waste” in this Part the meaning which it has in the Waste Directive by virtue of paragraphs (a) to (c) of Article 1 of, and Annex I to, that Directive, and those provisions shall be construed accordingly.

(12) In this section “the Waste Directive” means the M10 directive of the Council of the European Communities, dated 15th July 1975, on waste, as amended by—

(a) the M11 directive of that Council, dated 18th March 1991, amending directive 75/442/EEC on waste; and

(b) the M12 directive of that Council, dated 23rd December 1991, standardising and rationalising reports on the implementation of certain Directives relating to the environment.]

Extent Information

E2 This version of this provision extends to Scotland only.

Textual Amendments

F1 S. 75(2) substituted (1.4.2003 for S. for certain purposes, 1.1.2005 otherwise for S. and otherwise prosp.) by 1995 c. 25, ss. 120(1), 125(3), Sch. 22 para. 88(2) (with ss. 7(6), 115, 117); S.S.I. 2003/206, art. 2; S.S.I. 2004/541, art. 2

F2 S. 75(3) repealed (1.4.2003 for S. for certain purposes, 1.1.2005 otherwise for S. and otherwise prosp.) by 1995 c. 25, ss. 120(1)(3), 125(3), Sch. 22 para. 88(3), Sch. 24 (with ss. 7(6), 115, 117); S.S.I. 2003/206, art. 2; S.S.I. 2004/541, art. 2

F3 Words in s. 75(5)(e) substituted (S.) (1.4.2002) by 2001 asp 8, s. 79, Sch. 3 para. 17; S.S.I. 2002/162, art. 2(f)(h) (with arts. 3-13)

F4 S. 75(10)-(12) added (1.4.2003 for S. for certain purposes, 1.1.2005 otherwise for S. and otherwise prosp.) by 1995 c. 25, ss. 120(1), 125(3), Sch. 22 para. 88(4) (with ss. 7(6), 115, 117); S.S.I. 2003/206, art. 2; S.S.I. 2004/541, art. 2

Commencement Information

I3 S. 75 wholly in force at 31.5.1991 see s. 164(3) and S.I. 1991/1319, art. 2

Marginal Citations

M6 1960 c. 62.

M7 1961 c. 34.

M8 1947 c. 48.

M9 1948 c. 45.

M10 75/442/EEC.

M11 91/156/EEC.

M12 91/692/EEC.