Waste Brokers and Dealers: Registration Requirements in England and Wales

Many people in the waste industry are familiar with the concept of waste carrier registration. But a significant number of businesses that arrange waste collections, without ever driving a lorry or touching a skip, are unaware that they too must be registered. Waste brokers and dealers have their own distinct registration requirement, duty of care obligations, and record-keeping responsibilities. Operating without the required registration is a criminal offence. This guide explains the rules in full, covering the legal definitions, registration requirements, and what the duty of care means for intermediaries in the waste supply chain.

What Is a Waste Broker?

A waste broker is an intermediary who arranges the collection, recovery, or disposal of controlled waste on behalf of another party. The key characteristic of a broker is that they act as an agent — they do not own the waste, they do not carry the waste themselves, and they do not take title to it. Their role is to connect waste producers with carriers and treatment facilities, coordinate the logistics, and manage the relationship between the parties.

Examples of waste brokering in practice:

• A company that takes bookings from businesses wanting their waste collected, then subcontracts those collections to registered carriers, without owning any collection vehicles itself.
• An estate agent or property manager who arranges clearance of waste from properties on behalf of landlords or tenants, contracting with waste clearance companies to carry out the physical work.
• A facilities management company that manages waste contracts for multiple client sites, acting as the single point of contact between clients and waste service providers.
• An online marketplace or app platform that connects waste producers with registered carriers to facilitate collections.

In all of these cases, the business is brokering waste, arranging its collection or disposal on behalf of others. The fact that they never handle the waste themselves is irrelevant to the registration requirement.

Legal Definitions

The statutory definitions that matter here are found in Regulation 2 of the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 (SI 2011/988), which transposes and revises the EU Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC) into English and Welsh law:

• "Broker" means a dealer or broker who arranges the recovery or disposal of waste for others. In the regulations' specific terminology, this encompasses both the traditional "agent" broker and, in one reading, dealers.
• "Dealer" means an undertaking that acts in the role of principal to buy and subsequently sell waste, including waste dealers who do not take physical possession of the waste.

The critical legal distinction is between a broker and a dealer:

• Broker: acts as agent, arranges the collection or disposal on behalf of the waste producer, never takes ownership or title to the waste. The broker's name may appear as an intermediary in contractual arrangements, but the waste legally remains the producer's until it reaches a licensed destination.
• Dealer: acts as principal, buys waste from one party (taking title) and then sells or delivers it to another. The dealer effectively becomes the "holder" of the waste for the period between purchase and onward transfer. Scrap metal dealers and recyclate traders commonly operate in this way.

A single business may operate as carrier, broker, and dealer simultaneously for different transactions. A waste management company might: collect waste directly (carrier); arrange collections by subcontractors for some clients (broker); and buy recyclable materials from producers to sell to reprocessors (dealer). Each mode of operation has its own obligations, though a single CBDU upper tier registration covers all three.

Registration Requirement

Regulation 26 of the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 requires that waste brokers and dealers register with the Environment Agency. The registration is specifically as an upper tier registration, there is no lower tier equivalent for brokers or dealers.

Registration fees and period

The registration fee structure for brokers and dealers is the same as for upper tier waste carriers: approximately £154 for a new registration application (as of 2025, subject to periodic review by the EA), and approximately £105 for a three-year renewal. The registration is valid for three years. There is no free registration option for brokers or dealers, unlike lower tier carriers, there is no reduced-cost tier.

Registration prefix

On the EA register, broker and dealer registrations appear under the prefix CBDU (Controlled Waste Broker, Dealer and Carrier, Upper Tier), the same prefix used for upper tier waste carriers. This means that a single CBDU registration number covers the holder for upper tier carrier activities, brokering, and dealing, it is one registration that authorises all three activities.

Businesses that only broker or deal (and do not carry waste themselves) will still hold a CBDU number. When that number is checked on the EA's public register, it will show as an active upper tier registration, confirming the business is authorised to act as a broker or dealer. For a full overview of registration tiers and what each covers, see our guide toupper tier vs lower tier waste carrier registration.

Broker vs Dealer vs Carrier: A Practical Comparison

Understanding the distinctions between these roles helps businesses identify which registration they need and what obligations apply:

Waste Carrier

Physically transports controlled waste from one location to another. Must hold upper tier (CBDU) registration if carrying for hire or reward, lower tier (CBDL) if only carrying their own waste. Duty of care obligation: ensure waste description on WTN is accurate; only transport to authorised sites; retain WTN copies for 2 years.

Waste Broker

Arranges for others to carry, recover, or dispose of waste. Never physically handles the waste — acts as agent. Must hold upper tier (CBDU) registration. Duty of care obligation: must ensure the carrier and receiving site used are both authorised; must ensure correct WTNs are produced; must retain records for 2 years; must not instruct unregistered carriers or unlicensed sites.

Waste Dealer

Buys waste (taking title) and sells it on. Takes on the legal status of waste "holder" during ownership. Must hold upper tier (CBDU) registration. Duty of care obligation: as holder of the waste, the dealer has full duty of care obligations including ensuring onward transfer is to authorised parties, with compliant WTNs, and records retained for 2 years.

Application Process

Waste broker and dealer registrations are applied for using the same process and form as upper tier carrier registrations, the WMC2A form (or its online equivalent through the EA's waste carrier registration service). The application requires:

• Full business details (registered company name, Companies House number, registered address)
• Contact details of the key person responsible for waste compliance
• Description of the nature of the brokering or dealing activity, what types of waste you will broker or deal in, and what the typical transactions look like
• Details of any relevant criminal convictions for the business and key persons, the EA will check for environmental offences, fraud, and related matters under the "fit and proper person" test
• Confirmation of the registration category (broker/dealer/carrier, all three can be applied for simultaneously on a single application)

The EA typically determines broker and dealer registrations within approximately four weeks of receiving a complete application. The "fit and proper person" assessment considers whether any director or key person has relevant convictions, including environmental offences, health and safety offences, and fraud, that would indicate they are not suitable to be involved in regulated waste activities. A previous conviction does not automatically disqualify an applicant, but serious or recent relevant convictions are likely to result in refusal.

Once registered, the business's CBDU number must be provided on any waste transfer notes or other waste documentation where they are identified as a party, for example, if they are named as the broker on documentation accompanying a collection they arranged.

The Duty of Care as a Broker

Many brokers are surprised to learn that they share the duty of care under Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990. The Act's definition of "any person who... has control of... controlled waste" includes those who, as brokers or dealers, have effective control over decisions about how waste is handled, even if they never physically touch it.

The Duty of Care Code of Practice (2016) makes clear that brokers must take reasonable steps to ensure that:

• The carrier is registered: before instructing any carrier to collect waste on behalf of a client, the broker must verify the carrier's registration on the EA public register. Instructing an unregistered carrier is a breach of duty of care, regardless of whether the broker knew the carrier was unregistered. The obligation is to check, not to take the carrier's word for it.
• The receiving site is authorised: the broker must verify that the site to which waste will be taken holds an appropriate environmental permit or registered exemption for the relevant EWC codes. Again, this cannot be taken on trust from the carrier or the site, it must be independently verified on the EA's public register.
• Correct WTNs are produced: the WTN must be between the actual transferor (typically the waste producer) and the actual carrier. The broker is not typically a party to the WTN itself, they are an intermediary who arranges the transfer. However, the broker must ensure that a compliant WTN is produced for each transfer they arrange. In practice, brokers often compile WTNs on behalf of their clients as part of their service offering.

For businesses that combine carrier and brokering activities, the duty of care applies in both modes. When they carry waste themselves, the same standards apply as for any carrier. When they arrange subcontracted collections, the brokering duty of care obligations apply to each instruction to a subcontractor.

For a full understanding of how the duty of care applies across all parties in the waste chain, see our guide to the waste carrier licence requirements in the UK.

Record Keeping

Brokers and dealers must retain records for a minimum of two years, the same retention period that applies to waste producers and carriers under Regulation 4 of the Environmental Protection (Duty of Care) Regulations 1991 (SI 1991/2839).

The records a broker should retain for each transaction arranged include:

• A copy of the WTN for each transfer arranged, or, at minimum, confirmation that a compliant WTN was produced between the actual parties. The broker should receive a copy of the WTN as part of their standard operating procedure.
• Evidence of carrier verification: a screenshot or PDF showing the carrier's registration as it appeared on the EA register on the date of verification, with the date of the check recorded. This is crucial evidence that due diligence was carried out.
• Evidence of site permit/exemption verification: equivalent documentation showing the receiving site's permit or exemption was checked.
• Instructions given to carriers: any written or electronic communication specifying the waste type, quantity, collection details, and destination. This evidences the scope of the broker's instructions and demonstrates that correct information was provided.
• Client communications: records of instructions received from waste producers including waste descriptions, quantities, and collection requirements. This evidences the basis on which the broker arranged the transfer.

In practice, brokers who use a well-designed digital waste management platform will find that most of these records are automatically created and retained as part of normal system usage. The key is to ensure the platform covers all required fields and retains records for the full two-year period.

Penalties for Unregistered Brokering

Operating as a waste broker or dealer without registration is an offence under Regulation 26(4) of the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011. On conviction, the penalty is an unlimited fine. There is no lower-level fixed penalty notice alternative for unregistered brokering, the only enforcement route is prosecution.

The EA actively investigates unregistered waste broking, particularly where waste crime is involved. Fly-tipping investigation often traces back through the disposal chain and can expose unregistered brokers who arranged collections that led to illegal dumping. In such cases, the broker faces both the registration offence and potential liability for the duty of care breach, a serious combination of criminal exposure.

Specific penalty scenarios

• Unregistered broker used by client: the waste producer who used the unregistered broker is in breach of duty of care (they handed waste to an unauthorised person). The broker is in breach of the registration requirement. Both can be prosecuted.
• Registered broker uses unregistered carrier: the broker's registration does not insulate them from the duty of care breach of instructing an unregistered carrier. The broker is liable for the duty of care failure, and faces prosecution under s.34(6) EPA 1990.
• Registered broker directs waste to unlicensed site: even if the carrier is registered, arranging for waste to go to a site without the appropriate permit is a duty of care breach. The broker, as the party who directed the waste to that site, bears responsibility.

For businesses considering whether they need broker registration, the test is simple: do you arrange, for any consideration, including non-monetary consideration, the collection, recovery, or disposal of waste produced by others? If yes, you are brokering waste and you need registration. The registration process is straightforward, the fee is reasonable, and the consequences of not registering are entirely disproportionate to the cost of compliance.