British Standard for Confidential Waste: What is BS EN 15173?

Confidential waste refers to any waste your business may have that contains any private data, information, or documents. This covers documents that have any information about your customers, suppliers and even employees. Even digital elements such as hard drives come under the umbrella of confidential waste.

Every business will generate confidential waste. If you’re collecting customer data, such as phone numbers or financial information, you will need to dispose of this correctly to protect both your customers and your business.

The British Standard for Confidential Waste, BS EN 15173:2009, provides an outline for how your business should destroy any confidential documents and materials. BS EN 15173 Secure Destruction of Confidential Material covers the entire waste management process. You will need to consider everything from the method of collection to the storage method. This standard goes alongside the ISO 9001 Quality Management System. This makes sure that your business is handling confidential waste in the most secure way whilst maintaining a quality service. Complying with this legislation ensures that you are complying with the Data Protection Act.

The Data Protection Act ensures that businesses treat any personal information correctly. The Act is split into eight different principles. However, the seventh principle relates to confidential waste. It states that: “Appropriate technical and organisational measures shall be taken against unauthorised or unlawful processing of personal data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or damage to, personal data.”

For a business to comply with the seventh principle, they will need to ensure that any confidential waste is dispose of in the correct manner. This minimises the risk of any data breaches, ensuring the safety of their customer’s details.

Making sure you comply with the British Standard for Confidential Waste can be simple. You’ll need to ensure that every stage of your confidential waste’s journey is secure. Once generated, you should store it in locked containers. It will need to stay in a locked container or vehicle on its route to the recycling facility too. These vehicles will need to be clearly marked to say that they contain confidential waste and need to reach the destruction facility as soon as possible.

The standard requires that the facility it goes to is secure and authorised to dispose of your confidential waste. The process needs to be carried out by trained personnel, using the right method for destruction. Once this has been done, the standard also specifies that the waste needs to be disposed of in an environmentally responsible method.