Dispose of your waste
How to cut the amount of waste your business sends to landfill and how to limit the financial costs of waste disposal.
Around one fifth of all waste produced in Northern Ireland is disposed of in landfill. Commercial, industrial and domestic waste is either deposited onto or buried in these landfill sites. There are, however, alternative waste management options that your business can consider:
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minimise and reduce waste at source, lowering disposal costs
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reuse waste material in your business, to improve efficiency and save money
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recycle waste, saving resources by avoiding disposal
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trade waste, to generate revenue
This guide outlines some of the options for disposing of business waste in Northern Ireland. It will also help you assess the costs to your business and look at the benefits of using more efficient and environmentally sound waste disposal options.
Waste disposal and landfill tax
The cost of waste disposal at landfill sites and Landfill Taxes rates, and the restrictions on types of waste disposal.
Disposing of waste at landfill sites or incinerating it without energy recovery are the least sustainable waste management options and you should only use them as a last resort.
You must pre-treat waste before you send it to landfill. You also have a duty to ensure that your waste is disposed of legally. If you dump waste illegally, you could be fined or even sent to prison.
Types of waste you can't dispose in landfill
Some types of waste are banned from landfill sites, including:
- corrosive, explosive, oxidising, flammable or infectious wastes
- tyres
- liquid wastes
- wastes with more than 6 per cent total organic content
- automotive and industrial batteries
- animal by-products, such as agricultural carcasses and uncooked meat products
What is Landfill Tax?
If you dispose of waste in landfill, from 1 April 2023 you will pay Landfill Tax at rates of:
- £102.10 per tonne for most wastes (standard)
- £3.25 per tonne for some inert or inactive wastes (lower)
You don't have to pay Landfill Tax on:
- dredging activities
- quarrying and mining
- pet cemeteries
- inactive waste use for filling quarries
Find out who Landfill Tax applies to and how you can register or change your registration details.
Rules on incinerating waste
If you send waste for incineration, make sure you use an operator authorised to accept your waste. If you incinerate waste on your premises, you must have appropriate authorisation from the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA).
Waste disposal best practice
Best practice guidelines for disposing of your business waste and how to apply the waste management hierarchy.
Best practice in waste disposal is to apply the waste management hierarchy, which ensures that the economic and environmental benefits of each waste option are maximised.
It encourages you to consider a range of options before disposal, including:
- prevention
- preparing for reuse
- recycling
- other recovery
- only then, disposal
Find out more information about the waste hierarchy (PDF, 306K).
How to dispose of waste correctly
You have a number of obligations when dealing with waste disposal - this is known as your duty of care for waste.
In general terms you must:
- identify your source and type of waste accurately
- complete waste disposal documentation such as transfer, duty of care notes or hazardous waste consignment notes
- find a registered carrier to transport your waste
- store the waste safely and securely until it is removed
- dispose of waste only at facilities that are licensed to accept that type of material
The requirements for disposing of hazardous waste are more complicated, and it's important to remember that this type of waste can't be disposed of at landfill in Northern Ireland.
Some district councils will collect small amounts of commercial and industrial waste from small businesses, or allow you to use their civic amenity sites. There may be a charge for such services - you can search for local council contact details in Northern Ireland.
Disposal of waste in landfill should be the last option for your business waste, after identifying opportunities for reusing wasted resources from your business and recycling your business waste.
Get a free sustainability report
All Northern Ireland businesses with an annual energy and resource spend of more than £30k can get a free assessment of their environmental performance across areas such as raw materials, energy, carbon, packaging, biodiversity and waste - find out more about Invest NI Sustainability Reports.