Does my duty of care transfer when I subcontract the earthworks?

No. Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 makes the duty of care non-delegable. You can delegate the activity, but as the waste producer you remain responsible for evidencing that what happened to your waste was compliant — from the moment it is generated to its confirmed final destination.

What happens on 1 October 2026?

Digital Waste Tracking becomes mandatory for permitted receiving sites, which must log every waste movement they receive digitally and in real time. The Environment Agency receives a live feed, so volume anomalies, EWC mismatches and permit breaches can surface automatically. Waste carriers, brokers and dealers follow from October 2027.

We already have a compliance policy. Isn't that enough?

A policy sets the intent; enforcement tests the evidence. The exposure most developers carry is the gap between a documented policy and a defensible, retrievable record of what actually happened on every movement. Closing that gap is what this guide — and Nexus Assurance — is about.

Compliance guide for housebuilders

Waste Crime: Your Risk, Your Capital

A plain-English briefing for housebuilders and residential developers on what changed in UK waste enforcement — and where the risk now sits.

How waste enforcement became a financial-crime priority — and why now
What Section 34 duty of care actually requires of you as the waste producer
Where “cause or permit” liability reaches up the supply chain
What non-compliance costs in hard numbers — including a worked worst case
The minimum standard a compliant developer is expected to meet
What good looks like when the system does the checking, not the site manager

Will Rundle· CEO, Nexus ReGen14 min read

£1bn: Annual cost of waste crime to the English economy
~20%: Of waste in England estimated to be illegally managed
£130.75: Landfill Tax per tonne at an unauthorised site
Oct 2026: Digital Waste Tracking mandatory for receiving sites

What's inside

6 chapters, 15 pages — written to read properly

The regulatory shift

How waste compliance became a financial-crime issue — and the timeline that got us here.

Your legal exposure

What Section 34 duty of care actually requires — and why you can't contract it out.

The supply-chain blind spot

The seven questions an investigator's records request will answer for you.

The financial consequences

What non-compliance costs in hard numbers, with a worked £4.1m worst-case scenario.

The minimum standard

The baseline a compliant developer must meet — and what the leading standard looks like.

Closing the gap

Moving from a policy on paper to defensible, one-click evidence.

The complete guide, free — straight to your inbox as a PDF.

Get the free guide

Written by the people building the fix

“Most developers don't have a compliance problem. They have an evidence problem — and they only find out when the regulator asks.”

Will Rundle · CEO, Nexus ReGen

Every figure is verified against GOV.UK, HMRC, legislation.gov.uk and Environment Agency sources, and dated in the guide. No scare tactics — just what the law actually says.

Common questions

Before you ask

Waste Crime: Your Risk, Your Capital

Get the guide

15 pages, free. Read it, or send it to your QS or compliance lead.

Get the free guide