Business waste
The national simpler recycling reforms [external link] mean all businesses and organisations (like hospitals and schools) must have separate food waste and recycling collections.
The aim of the reforms is to establish a standard approach to recycling across the country for businesses. In due course this will apply to households too.
Businesses have a legal duty of care to store waste safely and to dispose of it using a registered waste carrier. [external link]
A business with ten of more employees must implement the changes from 31 March 2025.
A business with fewer than ten full-time employees has until 31 March 2027 to meet these requirements.
Under the new scheme, recyclable materials which must be separated from general waste include:
- Glass such as drinks bottles and rinsed empty food jars
- Metal such as drinks cans and food tins
- Plastic such as rinsed empty food containers and bottles
- Paper such as old newspapers and envelopes
- Cardboard such as delivery boxes and packaging
- Food waste including tea bags, coffee grounds, leftovers or waste generated by food preparation (there is no minimum amount for food waste)
Businesses will need to have a separate food bin, refuse bin and recycling bin.
The new rules do not come into force until March 2025. We will update this page as we have more information about how we will implement these changes if we collect waste from your business.
All waste carriers will be following these new rules. If you use another company to collect your rubbish please contact them for details of how they will be implementing the new scheme.
There is more information about the new rules on the WRAP website. [external link]
If you have any questions, or would like us to start collecting your business waste, please email us or call 01325 406666.