Rentokil firm fails to note waste

A subsidiary of well-known pest control and hygiene services company Rentokil has been fined £4,000 after failing to complete necessary paperwork for hazardous waste

Initial Washroom Services (IWS), a Rentokil Initial Services company, failed to submit consignment notes to the Environment Agency for hazardous waste arriving at its Okehampton waste transfer station in Devon in accordance with the site’s environmental permit.

IWS said it did not submit consignment notes to the agency for the canisters, which were subject to the Hazardous Waste Regulations 2005, because they had come from its customers’ premises and remained the property of the company. IWS also said it did not consider the cans to be waste until they were disposed of.

The agency criticised the company for adopting its own interpretation of the law.

“It chose to ignore our advice and continued to receive hazardous waste without recording its transfer and movement,” said Matthew O’Brien.

Rentokil Initial Services pleaded guilty to three offences under the Hazardous Waste (England & Wales) Regulations 2005 including, between 24 September and 1 October 1 2012, failing to complete hazardous waste consignment notes, failing to make a consignee quarterly return and failing to keep records.