Defra has stated that a consultation will be held in March next year to agree what measures can be put in place to remove some of the paperwork burden of dealing with waste for businesses.

The aim is to free up businesses from having to fill in multiple Waste Transfer Notes and to therefore enable simpler and easier waste handling practices. Defra also stated that they are currently liaising with the European Commission to negotiate exemption from the rules for micro businesses such as gardeners. The document states: “This plan, which establishes a clear set of deadlines for implementation with intermediate milestones, will form the basis for future monitoring of the delivery of this suite of proposals.

“Defra wants to be transparent with stakeholders and the wider public. We have therefore tested the plan with our Sounding Board of stakeholders and are publishing the key implementation dates on the Defra website.”

This is part of The Red Tape Challenge which was launched by the Prime Minister in April 2011 and is examining some 6,500 substantive regulations with the aim of scrapping or significantly reducing as many of them as possible.