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New legislation
New rules on battery disposal now in force
- Industrial and vehicle batteries are now banned from landfill.
- Portable battery manufacturers who produce more than one tonne a year must now pay a fee to a compliance scheme to cover recycling costs.
- You can now take back used portable batteries to battery retailers for recycling.
- Battery sellers must have a recycling bin for customers to drop off their old batteries.
Read more on what you must do with waste batteries
Have you made your carbon commitment?
If you have at least one half hour electricity meter, you may have to comply with the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme, formerly called the carbon reduction commitment. It comes into affect in April 2010. You may have to cut your carbon emissions and trade allowances. Find out if you’re affected with our CRC guidance.
Grassland farms to get higher nitrates limits
Farmers with at least 80% grassland may be able to apply more nitrogen from livestock manure to their land than other farms from 1 January 2010. Nitrates are controlled to prevent harmful levels polluting rivers and streams. Find out how to apply for the grassland derogation and more about nitrogen application limits in England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland .
Hazardous waste limits increased for businesses in Wales
In Wales, you can now produce up to 500kg, increased from 200kg, of hazardous waste in a year without registering with the Environment Agency. The regulations bring Wales in line with England. You must still follow strict rules on how you store, move and dispose of this waste, so check you’re in line with the law with our hazardous waste guidance.
Links to all new legislation
It's now even easier for you to keep track of legislation affecting your business with our new quick reference lists of regulations that have come into force in the past 12 months. We’ll keep these pages up to date so you can quickly see what’s new in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
New guidance
Have you got asbestos in your building?
Your building could contain asbestos if it was built or refurbished before 2000. Asbestos is highly toxic and carcinogenic so must be handled properly. Read our brand new asbestos guidance to find out how to spot asbestos in your building, who is allowed to handle asbestos, and how to dispose of asbestos.
New toolkits to help you manage your environmental performance
Check out the Environment Agency’s new toolkit to help you make your business greener. Use the toolkit to plan how you can reduce your environmental impact, manage pollution incidents, comply with your permit, create checklists and train your staff.
Updated guidance
Chemicals businesses
Check out our updated guidance on your environmental responsibilities. Whether you produce speciality or commodity chemicals, or products such as pesticides, paints or detergents, find out how to comply with REACH and other regulations, and minimise your environmental impact.
Metal product fabricators
If you work in the metal product industry, check out our updated guidance on what you must do with your equipment, coatings, solvents, scrap and more to comply with environmental regulations.
All businesses with an office
You’re probably clued up about the environmental impact of your main business activities, but what about your office? Or maybe you're fully office-based and aren't sure how your office activities affect the environment? Read our fully updated guidance for offices and you may be surprised to find out how much you can do to cut waste, save energy and use less resources.
