How to Check a Waste Carrier Licence

Before you let anyone take rubbish away from your home or business, it's worth spending a couple of minutes checking they're legally allowed to do it. This guide explains what a waste carrier licence is, how to check one, and what to watch out for if an operator isn't registered.

What the public register is

The Environment Agency maintains a public register of waste carriers, brokers and dealers for England. Any business or individual that transports waste as part of their work is generally required to be registered on it. The register is the official way to verify that a company or individual is legally allowed to remove and transport waste — it shows whether a registration is current, and lets you check the details against who's actually turning up at your door.

Registration isn't just a formality. It's the mechanism that lets the Environment Agency trace waste back to a responsible party, which is part of why it matters for householders too — as explained in our guide to the duty of care and rubbish removal costs, you as the person handing over the waste have a legal interest in the person taking it being properly registered.

Upper tier vs lower tier

Registration on the public register comes in two tiers, and it's useful to understand the difference in general terms:

Upper tier applies to businesses that regularly carry waste as part of their trade, including other people's waste. This covers most rubbish removal companies, skip hire firms, and similar operators — anyone whose business is built around moving waste that isn't only their own.
Lower tier mainly covers businesses carrying their own waste, or certain waste types that are exempt from the full upper-tier requirements. Lower-tier registration is a lighter form of registration intended for businesses where waste carrying is incidental rather than the core activity.

For a household rubbish removal job, you'd expect the company doing the work to hold upper-tier registration, since carrying other people's waste is exactly what upper tier is for.

How to search the register

Go to gov.uk and find the Environment Agency's public register of waste carriers, brokers and dealers. It's searchable by anyone, free of charge.
Search by company name or registration number. If the company has given you a registration number, searching by that number is the fastest way to get an exact match. If you only have a name, search by that instead.
Check the status. Each entry shows whether the registration is current or has been revoked. A revoked or expired registration means the company is no longer authorised, even if it once was.
Check the tier. Confirm the entry shows upper-tier registration if the company is offering to take a significant volume of your waste away.
Check the registered address and expiry date. These help you confirm you've found the right entry, particularly if there are multiple similarly named businesses, and let you see how long the registration remains valid for.

Red flags of an unlicensed operator

A few practical warning signs can suggest an operator isn't properly registered:

They can't or won't give you a registration number when asked.
They insist on cash only and are reluctant to provide any paperwork or receipt.
The vehicle is unmarked, with no company name, phone number, or registration details displayed.
They're vague or evasive about where the waste is actually going once it's collected.
The price is noticeably lower than seems realistic for the volume of waste involved — legitimate disposal costs money, and a price that undercuts that by a wide margin is a signal worth questioning.

None of these on their own proves an operator is unlicensed, but several together are a reason to check the register before booking.

RubbishSorted's carrier directory

RubbishSorted maintains a directory of licensed waste carriers at /carriers. Entries are sourced from the Environment Agency's public register and show each carrier's registration number and licence status, so you can see at a glance that a listed carrier is properly registered rather than having to search the register separately yourself.