Waste fuel glossary

Waste fuel glossary from A to Z

ADR

The agreement that sets the rules for carrying dangerous goods, including fuel, by road. Vehicles and drivers carrying fuel must meet it.

AdBlue

A solution of urea in water (32.5% urea) used in the exhaust systems of many diesel vehicles. It belongs in its own tank; in fuel it is a contaminant.

ATF (authorised treatment facility)

A site permitted to depollute and dismantle end-of-life vehicles. Only an ATF may treat a vehicle that has become waste.

Bund

A wall, tray or outer case around a fuel container that holds any leak. For oil and fuel stored at a business, bunds for tanks, bowsers and IBCs are sized at 110% of the container.

Collection charge

What you pay when a load costs more to collect and process than the fuel in it is worth, for example a small or heavily contaminated load.

Consignee

The site that receives waste. It is named on the consignment note and must be permitted to accept the waste.

Consignee return

A report from the receiving site confirming the hazardous waste it received. In England, producers keep copies with their consignment notes.

Consignment note

The document that travels with hazardous waste from the producer to the receiving site. Each person in the chain completes and signs their part.

Contaminated fuel

Fuel with something in it that should not be there, such as water, AdBlue, oil, coolant, sludge or diesel bug.

Depollution

Removing the fuel, oils, coolant, other fluids and hazardous parts such as the battery from an end-of-life vehicle before it is dismantled.

Diesel bug

Bacteria and fungi that grow where water meets diesel in a tank. They form slime and sludge that block filters.

Digital Waste Tracking

The government's online service for recording waste movements. Permitted sites receiving waste in England and Wales have had to use it since 1 October 2026.

DSEAR

The Dangerous Substances and Explosive Atmospheres Regulations 2002. They require employers to assess and control fire and explosion risks from substances such as petrol.

Duty of care

The legal duty on anyone who produces or holds waste to keep it safe, describe it accurately, pass it only to an authorised person and keep the paperwork.

End-of-life vehicle (ELV)

A car, van or other vehicle that has become waste. It must be taken to an authorised treatment facility.

Environmental permit

Permission from the regulator to run a site that stores, treats or receives waste, with conditions on how much and how.

EWC code

The six-digit code that describes a waste, from the List of Wastes (formerly the European Waste Catalogue). A code with an asterisk is hazardous.

Flash point

The lowest temperature at which a liquid gives off enough vapour to catch light. Petrol's is around minus 40 °C; diesel's is above 55 °C.

Gas oil (red diesel)

Diesel-type fuel with a red marker dye, taxed at a lower rate for the uses where it is still allowed.

Hazardous waste

Waste with properties that can harm people or the environment, such as being flammable. Drained fuel is hazardous waste.

IBC (intermediate bulk container)

A plastic tank, usually holding 1,000 litres, in a steel cage on a pallet base. The most common container for drained fuel.

Mixed fuel

Petrol and diesel that have ended up in the same container, usually when vehicles are drained during depollution.

Rebate

A payment from City Fuel Services to you for fuel that still has recoverable value, agreed after assessment and before collection.

Redundant fuel

Fuel a business no longer needs or can no longer use: old stock, surplus after a site closes, or fuel out of specification.

Special waste

The term used in Scotland for hazardous waste. It moves on a special waste consignment note with a code issued by SEPA.

Uplift

The fuel trade's word for a collection: pumping fuel out of a tank or container and taking it away.

Waste carrier registration

Registration with the regulator that allows a business to transport waste. Check it on the public register before handing waste over.

Official guidance: GOV.UK: waste classification technical guidance (WM3); GOV.UK: hazardous waste.