Managing controlled waste - code of practice: duty of care - business and regulatory impact assessment

5. Enforcement and compliance

SEPA are the enforcement authority for duties of care relating to separate collection and management of dry recyclable waste. This policy does not impact the enforcement, sanctions or monitoring processes already in place for the Duty of Care: Code of Practice (Scotland).

The Code is underpinned by a consideration of ‘reasonableness’. Duties related to recycling require, for example, that all reasonable steps are taken to ensure that waste is managed in a manner that promotes high quality recycling. This would take into account the availability of commercially viable recycling markets for a particular grade of material, or the significant variability of gate fees among other factors. This, in turn, would be supported by SEPA’s pragmatic and proportionate approach to enforcement.