Any waste could be harmful if it is managed badly or disposed of illegally. However, these risks are very small when hazardous waste is managed properly.

Research has shown a statistical connection between some waste operations and some forms of illness. But, it has not shown that the waste operations caused those illnesses, or helped to cause them.

Disposing of hazardous waste illegally (fly-tipping) doubled between 2001 and 2002. In 2002, a quarter of all pollution incidents in England and Wales, and nearly half of the most serious, involved hazardous materials.

Because of the extra risks hazardous waste poses to human health and the environment, strict laws control how it is managed