NORTH Somerset businesses are urged to dispose of their waste responsibly or face the possibility of a fine.

North Somerset Council's Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) Investigation Team have increased the number of compliance checks they carry out on businesses across the district. This is to make sure that trade waste is being correctly processed.

The checks, which were introduced in March 2022, also act as a way to tackle fly-tipping and reduce the amount of litter on the region's streets.

As part of these checks, each business must show proof that it has commercial waste collections in place. Trade waste can't be collected through the council's household waste collection service or at its recycling centres.

If you are a business owner and you use a third party to handle your waste, you must make sure they are authorised to do so.

If a business fails to produce proof that it is carrying out these measures on the day of the compliance check, it will be given a further seven days to share this evidence with the ASB Investigation Team.

Failure to produce any evidence at all will result in a £300 fixed penalty notice.

Here's some steps you can take to make sure you are disposing of your business waste correctly:

S – Suspect all waste carriers. Don't let them take your waste until they have proven themselves to be legitimate;

C – Check that a waste carrier is registered on the Environment Agency's website;

R – Refuse any unexpected offers to have your rubbish taken away;

A – Ask what will happen to your rubbish and seek evidence that it is going to be disposed of appropriately;

P – Paperwork must be obtained. A proper invoice, waste transfer note or receipt, including a description of the waste being removed and the waste carrier’s contact details, is required.

Councillor Annemieke Waite, executive member for climate, waste and sustainability, said: “We thank the majority of businesses who do follow proper procedures when it comes to dealing with waste. However, those that fail to follow the rules will be penalised. 

“By ramping up the spot-checks we introduced nearly two years ago, we hope that businesses are once again reminded of the important regulations concerning trade waste, which have been in place for more than 30 years.”