Frequently Asked Questions

The new workplace recycling regulations require any business or relevant non-domestic premise that generates waste that is similar in nature and composition to household waste (household like waste) to separate food waste, glass, plastics, metals, paper and cardboard from their general waste for recycling.

Examples of businesses in scope are:

• Offices

• Retail and wholesale

• Transport and storage such as trains and airports

• Hospitality, such as cafes, restaurants and hotels

This is not a complete list and there are others. If you are unsure if the rules apply to your business, you can check the legislation. If you generate waste that is similar in nature and composition to household waste, you ae likely to be in scope of the requirements.

There are relevant non-domestic premises that are also in scope. The relevant nondomestic premises are outlined in the Environment Act 2021 and the Separation of Waste Regulations 2024. These are as follows:

• a residential home;

• premises forming part of a university or school or other educational establishment;

• premises forming part of a hospital or nursing home;

• a place of worship;

• a penal institution;

• a charity shop selling donated goods originating from domestic premises;

• a residential hostel which provides accommodation only to persons with no other permanent address or who are unable to live at their permanent address; and

• premises used wholly or mainly for public meetings.

Workplaces (both businesses and non-domestic premises) must comply with the non-household implementation dates (either 31 March 2025 or 31 March 2027 depending on their FTE). For the purposes of Simpler Recycling, it is irrelevant whether their waste is classified as household (e.g. such as in the case of schools) or commercial waste.

Government guidance has been published for workplaces and waste collectors on the workplace requirements.

New legislation now requires all businesses, health and social care establishments and academic institutions to separate a number of recyclables from their general waste. These include glass bottles and jars, metal food and drinks cans, plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays, paper and cardboard and food waste.

Businesses and organisations with 10 or more full-time employees are required to make arrangements for the separate collection of:

• Dry recyclable materials (except plastic film) by 31 March 2025

• Food waste by 31 March 2025

• Plastic film by 31 March 2027

Businesses and organisations with fewer than 10 full-time employees (classed as micro-firms) are required to make arrangements for the separate collection of:

• Dry recyclable materials (including plastic film) by 31 March 2027

• Food waste by 31 March 2027

The new regulations mean that no waste from businesses can be sent for disposal unless it can be shown to have gone through a treatment process. The simplest way to provide this treatment is to separate your waste for reuse or recycling. The aim is to increase recycling rates and reduce the amount of waste we send for disposal. It will also help reduce your business costs, save energy, conserve natural resources and protect the environment.  

You’ll need to obtain a waste transfer note from the company or companies collecting your waste. Keep this document for two years, as you may be asked to present it if an enforcement officer from your local council or the Environment Agency ask to see it. 

If you transport your own waste between stores, depots or distribution hubs, you’ll also need to register as a waste carrier. 

No, all registered waste collection companies in England, whether public or private sector, are required to collect waste in this way in future from 31 March 2025 (31 March 2027 for businesses with fewer than 10 full-time employees). Both councils and waste service providers will be reviewing the services they offer, requiring their customers to separate recyclables and food waste from general waste, ensuring all workplaces are compliant with the workplace recycling regulations to recycle as much of their waste as they can.

As a business or organisation you have a Duty of Care to store the waste your organisation produces safely and to dispose of that waste using a registered waste carrier.

Find out more about Duty of Care

Make sure any waste contractor you use is registered to dispose of your waste, visit the Public Register of Waste Carriers, Brokers and Dealers

The workplace recycling regulations affect all businesses, so you’ll need to follow them even if you only produce a small amount of waste.

Research has shown that food waste is produced by all businesses i.e. tea bags. The workplace recycling regulations require a separate collection of food waste regardless of the volumes of food waste produced and apply to all workplaces not just those that serve food or have catering facilities. There is no minimum collection frequency for dry recycling or food waste as part of Simpler Recycling for workspaces, decisions on suitable collection frequency should be explored with your recycling service provider.

Government guidance has been published to help workplaces understand what is expected of them. 

Existing regulations also place what’s known as a Duty of Care on all businesses who produce waste, regardless of the amount, and require anyone dealing with waste to keep it safe, make sure it’s dealt with responsibly and only given to businesses authorised to take it.  

Yes, you both do.

If your landlord employs a waste company for you, or you hace a waste management contractor, this company has a legal obligation to now collect your recyclables including food waste separately from general waste, and to ensure that the services provided to tenants are compliant according to the businesses they provide the service contract for. However, you still have ultimate responsibility as the waste producer, so you'll need to present dry recyclables and food waste separately from general waste.

Businesses should work with their landlord or contractor to ensure they receive a compliant service.

The Environment Agency is the regulator for workplace recycling and is committed to supporting businesses - both waste and collectors - in understanding their duties.

As a Regulator they are required to have regard to the Regulator's Code which requires them to: support growth, engage with businesses, take a risk-based and proportionate approach to regulation, and to help those they regulate get it right.

They use advice-led regulation to secure compliance (particularly when legislation is new or changed), with the first stage being educating and raising awareness of legislative requirements, followed by providing advice and guidance on how to comply and eventually risk based interventions where non-compliance is discovered.

The Environment Agency is aware that some stakeholders may find the introduction of the reforms more challenging than others. They will take a pragmatic approach, prioritising helping stakeholders understand new requirements and working with them to support them in overcoming any difficulties they might face in relation to compliance.

It is important that businesses are actively taking steps and making arrangements to comply with the Simpler Recycling requirements.

This website is the best place to source information and advice on how to implement recycling in the workplace, but you can also find guidance on disposing of commercial waste here.  If you have a food-related business, visit Guardians of Grub for specific information and resources.

As a business, you have a legal responsibility to ensure that you produce, store, transport and dispose of your business waste without harming the environment. This is called your Duty of Care, and it’s a requirement of law under the section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (the EPA).  

If your facilities management company manages your waste for you, they’re responsible for ensuring that your recyclables and food waste are separately collected from your general waste, but you’ll need to keep it separate so that they can do this.  

Businesses should work with their facilities management company to ensure they receive a compliant service.

The new workplace recycling legislation changes mean that waste and recycling service providers have to provide services that comply with the new regulations to ensure that your waste contract will be valid in law, or the contract they hold with you could become void. Some collectors are expanding the range of services they offer to customers and so many still be reviewing or finalising new systems. Speak to your provider to find out how the changes they've made or planning will affect you.

Under Section 57 – Separation of Waste, the Environment Act 2021 makes provision for amending the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (Section 45AZA and Section 45AZB) governing the separate collection, in England, of household waste from relevant non-domestic premises.

Government guidance has now been published to help workplaces understand what is expected of them. 

Yes, the regulations do apply to your organisation/workplace. They apply to any workplace that produces waste similar in nature to household waste, such as packaging made from glass, metal, plastic, paper or cardboard and food waste.

Here is a full list of the recyclable materials you are now required to collect for recycling. 

Yes, If you sell electrical and electronic equipment (EEE), the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) regulations require you to provide a way for your customers to dispose of their old household electrical and electronic equipment when you sell them a new version of the same item., These regulations apply regardless of how you sell the products – online or in a store.  

Regulations also require you to offer a free collection or ‘take-back’ service for waste or used batteries if you sell or supply 32kg or more of portable batteries per year. This is the equivalent of selling one pack of 4 AA batteries per day over a year. If you sell over the 32kg threshold, you’ll need to have a collection point at your premises. These rules apply whether you run a shop, a chain of shops or sell batteries online, by mail order or telephone. 

Legislation was introduced in October 2023 which prevents retailers from supplying, selling, or offering a range of single-use plastic items, including: 

• Drinks stirrers

• Cutlery 

• Balloon sticks  

• Food and drinks containers made of expanded or extruded polystyrene, including; plates, bowls, trays and cups.

Refer to Government guidance for more information on single use plastics bans and restrictions.

Businesses and non-household organisations with 10 or more FTEs are required to separate food waste for collection from 31 March 2025. All businesses will be required to comply by 31 March 2027. The new regulations introduced by the Environment Act 2021, will mean that food waste can no longer be put in your general waste bin and must be stored and collected separately.

Disposal of food waste to landfill or into the sewer system (even if pre-treated) should only be carried out as a last resort in accordance with the food and drink waste hierarchy. Any additional food waste that is not disposed of on-site must be collected separately for recycling.

The devolved administrations of Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland have implemented separate regulations to restrict or prohibit the use of macerators and disposal of food waste to the sewer.

Defra has commissioned research into the various food waste treatment technologies to better understand their respective impact.

The regulations require businesses and non-domestic premises to separate dry recyclable materials and food waste from their general waste. Those with 10 or more full time equivalent (FTE) employees must be separating their dry recyclables and food waste from their general waste before the 31 March 2025. However micro-firms, those with fewer than 10 full time equivalent employees, have until the 31 March 2027. 

A micro-firm is defined as any producer of non-household municipal waste with fewer than 10 FTE employees. FTE employment is measured per enterprise rather than per unit, therefore multi-branch enterprises or franchises that employ over 10 FTE across multiple units must be separating their dry recyclables and food waste from their general waste before the 31 March 2025.  

A full-time equivalent employee is an employee who has a contract of employment with that business or organisation. Staff who are not on your payroll such as Volunteers, Agency Workers or Consultants should be excluded from an organisations FTE count unless they are directly employed by the organisation via a contract of employment. 

It’s a legal requirement to separate recyclables from food and from general waste, in accordance with Section 57 of the Environment Act 2021.

Your recycling service provider may choose to collect some or all of your recyclables together, but they can only do so if it is not practical or economical to collect them as separate materials, for example where space is limited and there isn’t room for separate containers for each type of material. Food waste can’t be collected with other materials and must be collected separately. Once collected, the materials must be recycled or, for food waste, composted. 

The simplest way to separate your waste for reuse or recycling is at the point of collection. Separating these materials for recycling not only increases recycling rates and reduces the amount of waste sent for disposal, but it makes recycling processes more efficient, producing recyclable materials of higher quality and quantities. Collecting recyclables separately is also known to increase their value, as well as ensuring they can be used widely as secondary raw materials in many products. 

Yes, the workplace recycling regulations apply to events that are run by businesses or relevant non-domestic premises. Any household-like waste generated by these events needs to be separated for recycling as per the new workplace requirements. The requirements need to be met in accordance with the relevant implementation date, depending on the FTE of the organiser.

For event organisers with more than 10 FTE employees, their events should be compliant by 31 March 2025, if the event organiser has fewer than 10 FTE then compliance at events would be required by 31 March 2027.

A full-time equivalent employee is an employee who has a contract of employment with that business or organisation. Staff who are not on your payroll such as Agency Workers or Volunteers should be excluded from an organisations FTE count, unless they are directly employed by the organisation via a contract of employment.

On-site composting and community composting schemes are compliant with Simpler Recycling. However, if you produce any additional food waste that you do not compost yourself then you must arrange for this to be collected separately for recycling.

Particular consideration should be taken for on-site composting of food waste containing animal by-products. More details of guidance on this can be found at Using animal material in home, work or community compost heaps and at T23 waste exemption: aerobic composting and associated prior treatment.

If you intend to use the compost on the same premises where it was produced, you will not need APHA approval to do so. If you intend to use the compost at a location other than where it was produced, including selling it to other people, you may need approval for your compost process. The table shown on the Gov.uk guidance page can be used to determine whether you require approval or not. If you score 19 or less, you do not require approval to supply or sell your compost for use at another location. However, if you score 20 or more, you should contact APHA to discuss your approval requirements.

On-site composting is unlikely to be a practical means for compliance with the requirements for the majority of workplaces. This is particularly for establishments that provide catering or generate high volumes of food waste which would overwhelm on-site composting.

If a business has 10 full time equivalent employees or more, the entire business estate needs to be compliant from 31 March 2025. This includes unmanned and remote sites, or those individual premises with less than 10 full time equivalent employees, as the requirement applies to the business as a whole rather than per premises. 

The services for these locations can be adapted to reflect the volume of waste produced, as there is no minimum collection frequency for dry recycling or food waste as part of Simpler Recycling for workplaces.

Yes, whether they need to comply now, or 31 March 2027 is dependent on whether the chain or franchise has less than 10 full-time equivalent employees across their organisation, which applies to the business as a whole rather than per premises. 

If franchises are registered as separate businesses on companies house, they should comply with the implementation date relevant to their number of full-time equivalent staff. 

A domestic property used in the course of a business for the provision of self-catering accommodation is classed as producing commercial waste under The Controlled Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2012. Any household-like waste generated by these properties is in scope of Simpler Recycling from 31 March 2025 unless the micro-firm exemption applies (businesses with fewer than 10 full-time equivalent employees). The micro-firm exemption is based on the business as a whole, rather than per individual premises. Residential caravan sites that are used as a primary residence need to comply by 31 March 2026 in accordance with the household requirements of Simpler Recycling. However, any shops or other facilities on site that are used in the course as a business would need to comply with the relevant workplace implementation date (either 31 March 2025 or 31 March 2027).

Home-based businesses are likely to be micro-firms and therefore have until 31 March 2027 to comply.  

Whether they require a separate waste collection to their household waste should be determined by their local authority and would relate to the type of business as well as the volumes and types of waste being generated. 

The Simpler Recycling regulations require businesses to separate dry recyclable materials and food waste from their general waste. If your organisation has 10 or more full-time equivalent employees you should now be separating both your dry recyclables and food waste from your general waste. Micro-firms, those with fewer than 10 full-time equivalent employees, have until the 31 March 2027 to comply. Separate collections of recycling and food waste must be in place across all the sites where your employees work, including unmanned or remote sites. You should provide recycling points within all of your premises and on any remote sites such as construction sites, to ensure all employees can separate their food waste, such as lunch leftovers, tea bags or coffee grounds, alongside the core list of dry recyclables and arrange for their separate collection. Waste service providers have a legal duty to make sure that dry recyclable materials (plastic, metal, glass, paper and card) and food waste are collected separately from non-recyclable waste.  Waste separated for recycling cannot be disposed to landfill or incineration. Compliance notices can be issued against a waste collector (excluding a Waste Collection Authority) that is not complying with the rules.  You should discuss your collection requirements with your current waste service provider and arrange a separate dry recycling, food waste and general waste collection. If your current provider does not offer the full range of collection services, you will need to arrange these services from other providers. You must make sure that the company you use to collect your waste, recycling and food waste is registered on the Public Register of Waste Carriers, Brokers and Dealers. Refer to Government guidance for workplaces for more information.

Simpler Recycling applies to waste that is household-like (i.e. similar in nature and composition to household waste) including food waste. Refer to the full list of materials that are in scope in the legislation. Construction wastes such as bricks, concrete and rubble are not in scope under the Simpler Recycling requirements. It is important to note, however, that where the materials in scope of Simpler Recycling are produced alongside construction waste e.g. cardboard packaging, these materials need to be presented and collected separately from the construction waste unless they are heavily contaminated, not empty or classified as waste code 15 01 10 (packaging containing residues of or contaminated by hazardous substances).

No, there is no minimum volume for food waste collections.  

All workplaces producing food waste need to arrange for it to be collected separately in accordance with the new Simpler Recycling requirements. This is regardless of the volume, and applies to all workplaces, not just those that serve food or have catering facilities.  

The requirements do not prescribe the frequency of collection. Workplaces should discuss with their waste service provider an appropriate frequency of collection to align with the volume of waste they produce. This should take into account considerations such as the containment of food waste to mitigate issues arising from pests or odours.  

Workplaces could also consider sharing facilities with neighbouring premises where quantities are small, for such arrangements to exist you need to have the agreement of the neighbouring premises and the waste service provider.

No, all businesses and relevant non-domestic premises producing food waste (including examples such as apple cores, banana peels, or teabags etc.) need to arrange for its separate collection in accordance with the new Simpler Recycling requirements.

It is not the intention of the policy that organisations encourage staff to take food waste home. If food waste is left or disposed of on the premises (through litter bins etc) then it must be separated from dry recycling and general waste and collected separately as per the legislation. Staff should not be taking any waste home that is generated by the workplace (e.g. food or drink provided by the workplace such as buffet remnants, tea bags, coffee grounds) as this is classed as commercial waste and must be dealt with in line with their duty of care arrangements. If businesses choose not to have a food waste collection in place and instead make alternative arrangements with staff, they should be satisfied that these are compliant with the legislation and may need to seek their own legal advice on this point. It is for employers to satisfy themselves that no food waste is disposed of in general waste and that any arrangements they put in place for staff are compliant with the waste duty of care. The intent of the policy is to ensure as much unavoidable food waste as possible is recycled or composted rather than sent to landfill or incineration. Food waste removed from premises by staff may not be recycled due to the availability of food waste collection services or additional steps required by staff to recycle it; businesses should consider this outcome when determining food waste services.

Private and public waste collectors operate all over the UK. Your local council may also provide suitable services. The internet is a good place to start looking for options but remember to ensure that any company you approach is a registered waste carrier – you can check this at the Public Register of Waste Carriers, Brokers and Dealers. 

​​​Your council may accept business waste at its public Household Waste and Recycling Centres (HWRCs), but you’ll need to contact them first to make sure. They may have specific requirements for how to bring your waste, such as in bags. Bear in mind that you’ll be charged for its disposal, as HWRCs are only free of charge for householders. For small quantities there’s likely to be a minimum charge.  

If you carry your own waste, or do so on behalf of a third party, you’re legally required to register with the Environment Agency as a waste carrier. Other licensed waste transfer stations may also offer ‘self-tip’ recycling facilities for small businesses, so contact them for details of what materials they accept and for their minimum tonnages and charges.  

No, waste collection costs aren’t included in business rates, so you’ll need to pay for such services separately. This does mean you can choose who collects your waste and recycling, though!  

Most waste collection companies and councils allow you to make payments for a full contract year, quarterly or spread over the year in instalments via direct debit. 

Most waste companies and councils offer rolling contracts of 12 months and should be flexible on collection frequencies (usually weekly, fortnightly or monthly). A weekly collection is most common, but educational establishments may need this reducing to 42 weeks a year in line with the academic year.  

This depends on the types and amount of waste and recycling your business produces. The costs for recycling are usually much lower than for general waste, as you’ll avoid having to pay waste disposal costs.   There’s likely to be a separate annual admin fee for providing a Duty of Care/Waste Transfer Note – this is a legal document that shows your business is disposing of the waste you’re producing in a responsible manner.  

Yes, there are a number of organisations that may be able to assist with redistributing usable equipment, either within your wider organisation or out into the community. These include: 

• Disabled Equipment Sent Overseas (DESO), based in Ashford, Kent recycles and ships a range of equipment to people in need. 

• Grace Cares – accepts used health and social care equipment such as walking and mobility aids, bathing seats and crutches, passing on these and other items to new users at affordable prices  

• Jacob’s Well Appeal, based in Beverley, East Yorkshire – sends medical aid to countries struggling with lack of medical and surgical items, including donations from the NHS, such as walking frames and unwanted mechanical beds, and bandages and gloves near the date line from manufacturers. 

• Limbcare, based in Farnborough, Surrey – accepts mobility aids such as wheelchairs (manual and powered), crutches and mobility scooters. 

• Mid-Devon Mobility – refurbishes unwanted, abandoned and unused mobility equipment. 

• The Mobility Equipment Recycling Scheme, based in Warrington – runs a scheme called LovedB4, which recovers, recycles and reuses electric mobility scooters and wheelchairs, manual wheelchairs, crutches and wheeled and framed walkers. 

• PhysioNet, based in North Yorkshire – accepts equipment donations from across mainland UK, donating it to communities overseas. 

Warp It, which is already used by the NHS, is an easy-to-use online platform for organisations to redistribute (give or loan) resources legally and conveniently within or outside your organisation. The platform: 

• Makes it easy for staff in an organisation to find colleagues with items to spare at the same organisation or beyond, reducing procurement spend 

• Makes it easy for people within an organisation who wish to part with items to find new owners, saving on waste disposal 

No, the duty is on the waste service provider to undertake and hold the co-collection assessment; if the regulator (the Environment Agency) needs to review it, they will contact the service provider. 

All workplaces producing food waste need to arrange for it to be collected separately in accordance with the new Simpler Recycling requirements. This is regardless of the volume, and applies to all workplaces, not just those that serve food or have catering facilities. The requirements do not prescribe the frequency of collection. Workplaces should discuss available options such as less frequent collections with their waste service provider to align with the volume of waste they produce. These discussions should take into account considerations such as the containment of food waste to mitigate issues arising from pests or odours. Workplaces could also consider sharing facilities with neighbouring premises where quantities are small, for such arrangements to exist you need to have the agreement of the neighbouring premises and the waste service provider.

The following materials must be collected in the dry recyclable waste streams:

Glass

• Glass packaging, including bottles and jars

Metal

• Steel and aluminium tins and cans

• Steel and aluminium aerosols

• Aluminium foil and food trays

• Steel and aluminium jars and bottle lids

• Aluminium tubes

Plastic

• Plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays

• Cartons for food, drink and other liquids, including aseptic and chilled cartons

• Plastic film packaging and plastic bags

  Tip: If your service provider collects plastic separately from other dry materials, collecting cartons in the plastic recyclable waste stream will mean more cartons can be effectively sorted and reprocessed.

All paper and card except:

• Paper and card that contains glitter or foil

• Laminated paper

• Stickers and sticky paper

• Padded lined envelopes

• Paperback and hardback books

• Wallpaper

You need to separate paper and cardboard from other dry recyclables (plastic, metal and glass), unless your recycling service provider collects them together. Service providers may also choose to collect other dry recyclable materials separately, like glass. Discuss how your dry recyclables will be collected with your chosen service provider.   

You’ll need to collect the following materials in the food waste stream:

• All food intended for human or household pet consumption, regardless of whether it has any nutritional value

• Biodegradable material resulting from the processing or preparation of food, including inedible food parts such as bones, eggshells, fruit and vegetable skins, tea bags and coffee grounds

You’ll need multiple containers to keep your food waste and recycling separate from your general waste and ready for collection. You’ll also need to make sure you have enough space for them. Read Step 4 to learn more about the practicalities, including providing easy access for employees and waste collectors and ensuring containers don’t cause health and safety or fire risks. The Government has more on storing your waste safely and securely.  

​​​If you’re struggling to make sure your employees and/or customers are putting rubbish and recyclables in the right bins, it may help to review your communications.

Providing clear information about what can and can’t be collected in waste and recycling containers will help staff understand which materials go where, and you could provide training to help ensure they know how to separate waste effectively. We’ve also produced a range of recycling posters and resources to help spread the word. Try to ensure that your bins aren’t accessible to people who shouldn’t be using them; Where this isn’t possible – because your bins are kept in an alley way, for example – ask your waste service provider to supply you with lockable bins.

If the Environment Agency finds that a business or relevant non-domestic premises has made every effort to enable customers to recycle, yet, customers aren't doing so, their regulatory response would be fair and proportionate based on the circumstances. Where it is considered appropriate, they would seek to work with businesses to resolve compliance issues in the first instance.

Yes, you’ll need to enlist a specialist waste company to safely collect, transport and dispose of hazardous or clinical waste. Common hazardous waste types that are unsuitable for general disposal or recycling include: 

• Asbestos 

• Batteries 

• Cooking oils, fats and greases

• Electrical appliances 

• Fluorescent light tubes 

• Fridges, freezers and air-conditioning units 

• Gas bottles and canisters 

• Hazardous or toxic waste 

• Liquids  or chemicals

• Medical waste 

• Mercury 

• Oil, fuel and other automotive fluids 

• Paints (including residues inside paint cans) and solvents 

• Plasterboard 

• Roofing felt containing bitumen 

• Tyres 

Although you’ll need to separate dry recyclables from food and general waste, you may be able to combine some types into the same container, such as glass, plastics and metals.  Talk to your service provider about their range of container options and preferred so you can optimise your recycling service and make the most of the space you have available.  

Compostable packaging and other compostable products are designed to be broken down in a different way to recyclable packaging, so you should dispose of them through organic waste bins, if possible (check with your service provider), or with your general waste.  

Plastic packaging or non-packaging items labelled as "compostable" or biodegradable" are not in scope of the food waste stream and are therefore not required to be collected for recycling or composting with food waste.

Some specific items, such as food caddy liners, may be industrially compostable materials. These can sometimes be put into food waste bins when they are certified to recognised standards (e.g. EN 13432/14955). Always check with your waste or recycling service provider first.  

No, it is expected that businesses continue to pay for their own waste management services.

Workplaces are not required to provide bins for customers, but if you do, all household-like waste must be separately presented to your waste service provider at the point of collection. This means dry mixed recycling, paper and card (by default, this should be separate unless your waste provider utilises the co-collection exception), and food waste will need to be collected separately from general waste and presented in separate recycling waste streams if required by your waste service provider. The intention of Simpler Recycling is to make recycling the norm for citizens whether at home, work, school, or on the go, and to increase the quantity and quality of recyclable material collected. For that reason, it is strongly recommended that workplaces implement customer-facing separation wherever possible. This will be supported by ongoing activity by both Defra and WRAP, working in partnership with industry, to support citizen behaviour change for example through best practice signage. In any circumstance, businesses should ensure they implement waste management systems that minimise the contamination of materials. As a reminder, any household-like recyclable waste generated by the workplace itself, must also be separated for recycling.

From 31 March 2025, businesses who provide litter bins (internally and externally) are required to separate out the waste collected where it is deemed to be relevant waste (waste which is similar in nature and composition to household waste) and present it according to their waste collection arrangement. This could present a challenge to some workplaces for example those with limited space, read our guidance in Step 4 to understand options for containers and storage for your waste and recycling.

By default, the legislation requires that paper and card is separately collected from other dry mixed recyclables (plastic, metal, glass) unless it is technically or economically impracticable or if this provides no significant environmental benefit. Waste service providers who choose to use an exception to co-collect paper and card with other dry recyclables, need to produce a short, written assessment to demonstrate that it is not technically or economically practicable to collect paper and card separately, or there is no significant environmental benefit to doing so. Government guidance has been published for waste service providers and a suggested template that can be used for this assessment.

Businesses should be able to collect recycling and backhaul to a separate premise and have this waste collected there, so long as all waste is presented separately in accordance with the waste collection arrangements in place, and that the method of backhauling does not result in contamination or mixing of waste streams that would render it unsuitable for separate collection. In all circumstances, the dry recyclable materials must be presented separately from food waste and general waste. However, businesses should consider the implications of backhauling waste, as a waste carrier's licence may be required. More details on this can be found at Register or renew as a waste carrier, broker or dealer - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The Non-Waste Framework Directive provides an exemption which allows the temporary storage and treatment of waste without to need to register with the Environment Agency.

Workplaces should discuss this with their waste service provider in the first instance. Wherever possible, food waste should be prevented, redistributed, or sent for animal feed before being disposed of as food waste.

Yes, you will need to separate the recyclable materials and food waste in accordance with arrangements with your waste service provider. The regulations do not specify or prescribe how waste should be collected (e.g. size of containers, or containers vs sacks), nor how frequently it should be collected. This can therefore be determined in agreement between you and your waste service provider.  

Your waste provider will specify their requirements based on health and safety, vehicle, and environmental considerations such as pests and litter in determining whether they provide a bag collection service for any or all of the waste streams. 

You should discuss options with your waste provider.  

Some providers offer sack collections that reduce the need for storage, and you can adjust the frequency of your collections. There are also stacking bin systems that can reduce the footprint of bins. Another option would be to reduce the size of your general waste container to make space for recycling bins.