How to check a skip firm is a registered waste carrier

Updated 30 September 2026

When you hire a skip, you’re handing your waste to someone else. The law expects you to check they’re allowed to take it. It takes about a minute.

Why it matters to you

If you pay someone to take your household waste, you have a duty to check they’re allowed to carry it. If you don’t, and your waste ends up fly-tipped, your council can give you a fixed penalty of between £150 and £600, with £200 as the default (GOV.UK guidance for councils).

How to check

1. Ask the firm for its waste carrier registration number. Most start with CBDU.
2. Search the Environment Agency’s public register: find a registered waste carrier, broker or dealer. You can search by the number, the business name or the postcode.
3. Check the name and address match the firm you’re booking, and that the registration hasn’t expired.

Upper tier or lower tier?

The register shows a tier for each firm. A business that carries other people’s waste, like a skip company, needs upper-tier registration. Lower tier is for firms that only carry their own waste or certain specific types (Environment Agency register).

How SkipCheck helps

We check every firm we list against the register and show “Verified: Registered waste carrier” with the date and a link to the firm’s record when we find a match. If we couldn’t match a firm automatically, that doesn’t mean it isn’t registered. It may be registered under a different business name, so ask for the number and check. How we check.

Coming changes

The government announced in August 2025 that waste carrier, broker and dealer registrations will be replaced by environmental permits or registered exemptions. Upper-tier firms move over when they renew, across three years (GOV.UK). The register will still be the place to check.

Find a skip

Somerset & Wiltshire · North & East Yorkshire

Find a firm near you: Selby · Goole · Trowbridge · all towns