Deposit of Poisonous Waste Act 1972

1 General prohibition on depositing poisonous and other dangerous waste

(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, no person shall deposit waste on land, or cause or permit waste to be deposited on land, where the waste is of a kind which is poisonous, noxious or polluting and its presence on the land is liable to give rise to an environmental hazard.

(2) For the purposes of this Act, a person is to be treated as depositing waste if he deposits any substance (whether solid, semi-solid or liquid) in such circumstances, or for such a period, that he may reasonably be assumed to have abandoned it where it is deposited or to have brought it to the place where it is deposited for the purpose of its being disposed of (whether by him or others) as waste.

(3) The presence of waste on any land is to be treated as giving rise to an environmental hazard if the waste has been deposited in such a manner, or in such quantity (whether that quantity by itself or cumulatively with other deposits of the same or different substances) as to subject persons or animals to material risk of death, injury or impairment of health, or as to threaten the pollution or contamination (whether on the surface or under ground) of any water supply; and where waste is deposited in containers, this shall not of itself be taken to exclude any risk which might be expected to arise if the waste were not in containers.

(4) In the case of any deposit of waste, the degree of risk relevant for purposes of subsection (3) above shall be assessed with particular regard—

(a) to the measures, if any, taken by the person depositing the waste, or by the owner or occupier of the land, or by others, for minimising the risk; and

(b) to any likelihood of the waste, or any container in which it is deposited, being tampered with by children or others.

(5) Subject to the next following subsection, any person who contravenes subsection (1) of this section shall be guilty of an offence and liable—

(a) on summary conviction to a fine of not more than £400 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than six months, or to both; or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for not more than five years or a fine, or to both.

(6) It shall be a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section in relation to any deposit of waste—

(a) where the charge is of depositing waste, or causing or permitting waste to be deposited, to prove—

(i) that he acted under instructions given to him by his employer, or

(ii) that he relied on information given to him by others with respect to the waste (without any reason to suppose that the information was false or misleading),

and in either case that he neither knew, nor had any reason for supposing, that the waste was of such a kind that it would be an offence to deposit it;

(b) where the charge is of causing or permitting waste to be deposited, that he took all such steps as were reasonably open to him to ensure that no offence would be committed.

(7) Nothing is to be taken as a contravention of subsection (1) above which is done pursuant to, and in accordance with the terms of, any consent, licence, approval or authority granted under an enactment; but no planning permission granted or deemed to be granted under the enactments relating to town and country planning shall be taken to authorise anything which is a contravention of that subsection.