---
id: KB-NO-026
url: https://app.codecontract.io/help/regulation/the-waste-thats-been-in-the-yard-for-months
idioma: en
categoria: normativa
subcategoria: residuos
audiencia: usuario
nivel: intermedio
actualizado: 2026-08-13
tambienEn: [es]
relacionados: [KB-NO-003, KB-NO-020]
citadoPor: [KB-NO-012]
---

# The waste that's been in the yard for months

_Storing your own waste until collection is normal. What is not normal is that nobody knows since when it has been there._

**Responde a:** how long can i store waste on site · waste piling up at the company · temporary storage of waste · the waste manager is not collecting

It starts with a pallet set aside «until the lorry comes». Then there are three. Then there is a corner of the yard everyone avoids looking at and nobody remembers when it filled up. There is no bad faith at any step: collection costs money, the lorry comes when there is volume, and volume takes time.

## Why the date matters, not just the place

| What gets looked at | What is actually being asked |
| --- | --- |
| Where it is stored | Whether the place suits THAT waste |
| How much there is | Whether the amount matches what you produce |
| **Since when it has been there** | **The question almost nobody can answer** |
| Where it goes | Whether the manager is authorised for that code |

> [!IMPORTANT]
> The third row decides how a visit ends: **if you cannot say since when each thing has been there, you cannot show you have not been accumulating for years**. And «the collector never came» only works if it is written down: phone calls leave no record, emails do. A two-column log —what entered temporary storage and what left, with dates— turns a suspicious corner into explained storage.

## What needs to be in place, and it is not much

1. **A visible date on each stored batch of waste** — A label with the day it started filling. It sounds trivial and it solves almost everything.
2. **The in-and-out log for temporary storage** — What, how much, since when and on which document it left.
3. **The removal paperwork, filed under the real date** — Not the date the lorry was requested: the date of removal.
4. **And an alert before you reach whatever limit you set yourself** — What does not warn you gets discovered full.

> [!WARNING]
> Two things make this much worse and are easy to avoid: **mixing** and **leaving it uncovered**. Hazardous waste among general waste drags the whole container into its category, and from there the problem is a different size. And storing outdoors what should not be turns controlled waste into a spill when it rains — which is no longer about deadlines but about soil and water. If the right place does not exist, that gets solved before generating more, not after.

## When the one not showing up is the collector

**En corto**

- Request collections in writing, even if you also call: what supports your position is the date of the request.
- Keep their replies, including the ones that never come: a dated silence is evidence too.
- And find an alternative before the yard decides for you.

> [!NOTE]
> How long each type of waste may be stored at the producer's premises, under what conditions and with what records is set by the waste rules, and it varies with type and quantity. **Your adviser settles that**; here we cover the part that is always yours: knowing since when each thing has been there and being able to show it.

**How long can I store it?**

It depends on type and quantity. What depends on nothing is having to know since when it has been there.

**Is a dated photo enough?**

It helps, but what is asked for is the log. The photo supports it; it is not it.

**What if the waste came from works at my premises?**

Then the first question is whose it is. That gets agreed before anyone comes in.

## Ejemplos

**An inspection asks since when a batch has been stored and nobody on site knows.**

- Labels each batch with the date it started filling
- Keeps an in-and-out log

→ The corner of the yard goes from suspicious to explained, with dates.

**The collector has not come for two months and temporary storage is at its limit.**

- Requests collections in writing and keeps both the replies and the silences

→ The delay stops being yours: it is on record who asked, when, and what came back.

**Tins of solvent turn up in the general waste container.**

- Separates before storing and trains whoever throws away, not only whoever manages

→ A whole container stops changing category over four tins.

**The waste has sat in the yard for months and nobody knows since when.**

- Records the generation date when it is set aside

→ Elapsed time is a fact rather than an impression.

**Several consignments pile up in the same place.**

- Records each with its date

→ The oldest is identified without opening anything.

**Nobody flags that it needs removing.**

- Lets it warn when it has sat too long

→ Collection is requested before it becomes a problem.