How long do you keep a hazardous waste consignment note?

Here is the short answer. If you produced or carried the waste, keep the hazardous waste consignment note for at least three years. If you are the site that received it, keep it for at least five years. Keep a waste transfer note for at least two years. Below is what that means in practice, and the bit people get wrong.

How long do you keep a hazardous waste consignment note?

It depends who you are. The producer and the carrier each keep their copy of the consignment note for at least three years. The site that receives the waste keeps its copy for at least five years, because a permitted receiving site has to hold its records longer. The clock starts on the date the waste was transferred, not the date the note was written.

Transfer notes: two years

For non-hazardous waste you keep the waste transfer note for at least two years. Both the business handing over the waste and the one taking it must keep a copy. This is part of your duty of care.

You must be able to produce them

Keeping the records is only half of it. You must be able to show them if the Environment Agency asks, whether that is at a roadside stop or a site inspection. A note you cannot find is as good as a note you never made.

Why digital storage makes this simple

Paper notes get lost, damaged or buried in a folder in the van. Storing them digitally keeps every hazardous waste consignment note for the full period, in one place, ready to pull up the moment someone asks. No box files, no missing copies.

The rule is easy once you see it. Three years if you produced or carried the waste, five if you received it, and two for a transfer note. The hard part is never losing one, and that is exactly what going digital fixes.