How to check a waste carrier is registered
It takes about two minutes, it is free, and it is part of your legal duty of care rather than an optional extra. Here is exactly what to do and what has to match.
Why this is your problem, not theirs
Under section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 your responsibility for your waste does not end at your back door. If a collector fly-tips your oil or feeds it into an illegitimate supply chain, the fact that you paid someone to take it away is not by itself a defence. A regulator will ask what steps you took to satisfy yourself the carrier was legitimate.
- 1
Ask for the registration number
It looks like CBDU followed by digits, for example CBDU649455. Ask for the number itself, not a screenshot of a certificate and not a reference to being "fully licensed". A carrier that will not give you a number has answered your question.
- 2
Search the Environment Agency public register
Open the register, choose to search by registration number, and enter it exactly. The service is free, needs no account, and works on a phone. In England this is the definitive record: a certificate can be out of date or edited, the register cannot.
- 3
Check three things match
The registration number, the registered business name (it must match the company invoicing you, not a trading name that appears nowhere else), and the tier. A company that buys and moves used cooking oil should hold an upper tier registration as a carrier and dealer.
- 4
Check it has not expired
Upper tier registrations run for three years and must be renewed. The register shows the expiry date. A lapsed registration means the carrier is not currently authorised, whatever the certificate on their wall says.
- 5
Keep a record that you checked
Screenshot the register entry, or note the date you checked and what it said, and keep it with your waste transfer notes. Your duty of care asks what steps you took to satisfy yourself the carrier was legitimate, and a dated record is the evidence.
Open the register
Free, no account needed, works on a phone. Search by registration number for the fastest result.
When to walk away
Any one of these is reason enough to keep looking. Your legal exposure does not transfer with the oil.
- No registration number offered, or reluctance to give one
- A name on the register that does not match the company invoicing you
- Lower tier registration for a company buying and selling your waste
- An expired registration, or a date they will not confirm
- A certificate image instead of a number you can look up yourself
- No waste transfer note offered at all, or a blank slip with a signature
Run the same check on London Oil Collection
It would be a strange guide if we did not invite you to use it on us. Both of these are public records maintained by someone other than us, which is the entire point.
- Waste carrier registration
- CBDU649455 Upper Tier, Carrier & Dealer Search the register →
- Registered company
- London Oil Collection Ltd Company number 17353811 View at Companies House →
More on what we do with the paperwork afterwards is on our compliance page, and the wider legal picture is in used cooking oil disposal rules .
This page describes the position in England, where waste carrier registration is handled by the Environment Agency. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own registers, run by SEPA, Natural Resources Wales and NIEA respectively. It is general guidance, not legal advice.
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