SEPA extends expiry dates of waste carrier and broker registrations following cyber-attack

On December 25th 2020, the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) confirmed that it was responding to a significant cyber-attack affecting its contact centre, internal systems, processes and communications. As a result of the cyber-attack, SEPA’s online application service for new and renewal of waste carriers or brokers registrations is currently unavailable.

It is an offence to transport waste to or from any place in Great Britain, or act as a broker if you are not registered. SEPA has therefore implemented temporary measures to cover businesses who act as carriers or brokers of waste.

New applications

The regulator has established a system to allow carriers and brokers of controlled waste to register for the first time using its online service.

Renewals

SEPA is not currently able to receive or determine applications to renew existing registrations so has adopted a regulatory position statement (RPS). If a registration is due to expire in the period between 24th December 2020 and 31st May 2021, SEPA will treat it as extended until 30th June 2021.

 

Carriers and brokers operating under this temporary RPS must continue to comply with the Duty of Care for Waste.

This position statement applies only in Scotland. Businesses based in England and Wales must continue to hold a valid waste carrier or broker registration to operate in Scotland. Application services in England and Wales are operating normally.

SEPA will provide updated information on how to submit a renewal application when this is available.

Remember to check if any waste carriers you use are affected by this.