The Litter of the Law

Licence and registration, please… No, it’s not a line from a US cop movie. It’s what you might hear if the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) investigates waste on your land.

Scotland has strict rules about depositing waste on land, storing it or getting rid of it. If you don’t have the right licence, or you break environmental laws, the consequences can be serious, including large fines or even prison.

What the law says

Unless you have a proper licence, you must not:

Deposit controlled waste on your land
Allow someone else to put waste on your land
Store, treat or dispose of controlled waste
Allow anyone else to do these things
Handle waste in a way that could pollute the environment or harm human health

It is also a criminal offence to cause serious environmental harm, to let someone else cause it, or to fail to stop it happening.

There are very limited exceptions to this, for example a household waste exemption.

You are allowed to deposit ordinary household rubbish on the ground right beside your own home. However:

The exemption does not cover farmland, public land or commercial premises
It must be normal domestic waste, not anything hazardous
It must be close to the house, not at the far end of a field

If you want to store or deal with waste anywhere else, you will almost certainly need a waste management licence.

Penalties — how bad can it get?

The penalties for falling foul of this law can be severe.

If prosecuted on a summary complaint, a person could face up to six months in prison, a fine of up to £40,000 – or both.

If prosecuted on indictment (in more serious cases), the convicted person could be hit with an unlimited fine, up to two years in prison (or five years for “special waste”), or both.

Special waste includes things like asbestos, chemicals and oils; essentially, anything that could harm people or the environment.

For offences involving environmental harm, the penalties can be up to 12 months (summary) or five years (indictment), with fines still unlimited.

In terms of what legal defences are available, these could include evidence that you took all reasonable precautions or were following your employer’s instructions and had no reason to suspect wrongdoing. Acting in an emergency to protect human health is another possible defence.

Be aware that not all defences apply in every case, so it’s important to speak to an experienced environmental and criminal solicitor.

A new environmental crime: Ecocide

A new proposed law, the Ecocide (Scotland) Bill, is currently making its way through the Scottish Parliament, having been introduced by Monica Lennon MSP as a Member’s Bill.

If passed, it will introduce the crime of ecocide (the first of its kind in the British Isles), meaning intentionally or recklessly causing severe, widespread, or long-lasting damage to the environment (damage unlikely to be naturally repaired within 12 months).

This offence can be brought against individuals or organisations and potential penalties include up to 20 years imprisonment, an unlimited fine, or both.

Certain defences, such as acting to prevent harm to human health, may apply, but again, legal advice is essential.