A warehouse generates many different types of waste such as empty cardboard boxes, wooden pallets and defective material. All countries will have legislation and Approved Codes of Practices (ACOPs) that aim to protect the environment and which govern the activities of a warehouse.
UK legislation governing warehouse waste includes:
- The Environmental Act 1995;
- The Environmental Protection Act (EPA) 1990; and
- Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994.
All waste generated by a warehouse, whether hazardous or not is classified as ‘controlled waste’. Controlled waste must only be transported and disposed of by authorised and licensed waste removal companies. Therefore, it is essential to establish that the waste removal organisations used by the warehouse hold the appropriate waste carrying licences.
Operators of Warehouses have a duty of care for the safe handling, storing, re-cycling, disposal or transport of controlled waste. They will also be required to take all reasonable steps to:
- Prevent the escape of waste from the warehouse
- Maintain waste records
- Ensure there is an effective audit trail for waste management.
The Environment Act 1995 identifies a number of issues that require effective control and management in a warehouse. They include:
- Noise Pollution
- Air Pollution
- Water Pollution
- Land Pollution
- Light Pollution
- Effective Waste Management
- Recycling Procedures.
Warehouse operators have a duty of care to reduce the risk as much as possible, of any of the above issues impacting on the local community. This may involve timing the movement of materials and use of machinery during normal working hours to ensure noise pollution is reduced.
A formal management system for controlling environmental matters is the international standard ISO 14001 as explained in the video below.