Simpler Recycling

Materials that must be separated

In England, workplaces must always separate dry recyclable material, food waste and residual waste from each other before collection. The dry recyclable streams are:

• glass, such as drinks bottles and rinsed food jars
• metal, including drinks cans, rinsed food tins, empty aerosols and aluminium foil or trays
• plastic, such as rinsed pots, tubs, trays, bottles and cartons
• paper and cardboard, including newspapers, envelopes, boxes and cardboard food packaging

Food waste must be collected even where a workplace does not serve food or run a kitchen. That catches the tea room bin, staff lunches and any catering on site. Waste cooking oil can be collected with food waste or through a separate used cooking oil collection.

Garden waste, where a workplace produces it, should be recycled or composted if that gives the better environmental outcome.

Co-collection and container decisions

Separating material does not always mean a separate container for every dry recyclable stream. In England, paper and card must be collected separately from plastic, metal and glass unless the waste collector has completed the required co-collection assessment. Food waste must be kept separate from dry recyclables and residual waste. The containers used in practice should follow the collector’s instructions and suit the site’s volumes and storage arrangements.

Container size and collection frequency are for the site to decide based on volume. A factory with a staff canteen will produce a different mix from a warehouse with a small office. Getting the numbers wrong shows up quickly: overflowing food bins, cardboard stacked beside a full container, or dry recyclables going into residual skips because there is nowhere else to put them.

Where a site already runs dry mixed recycling, the simpler recycling rules may need only a review of signage, bin placement and the food waste arrangement rather than a new collection round.

Contamination and what goes wrong

Contamination is the most common reason a recycling container is rejected or downgraded. A single bag of general waste in a dry recycling bin can affect the whole load. Food residue in plastic trays, liquids in glass bottles and greasy cardboard all reduce what a reprocessor can recover.

Signage helps, but placement and convenience matter more. Bins need to be where the waste is produced, with lids that suit the material and enough capacity that people do not default to the nearest residual bin. In shared yards, clear labelling and a simple rule about what goes where is often more effective than a long list of instructions.

Where material is genuinely contaminated and cannot be cleaned, it may need to go to residual or another suitable route. The right answer depends on what the contaminant is and how the receiving facility is permitted to handle it.

Food waste from canteens and welfare areas

Food waste is heavier and wetter than most dry recyclables, and it decomposes quickly. On sites with a canteen or a staff kitchen, a separate food waste collection is usually the practical option, with sealed caddies or bins and a collection frequency that matches the volume.

Where food waste is collected, the receiving route matters. Anaerobic digestion and composting both recover value from food waste, but they accept different material and have different restrictions on packaging. Compostable packaging is not automatically accepted, and some facilities reject it. This should be checked before a site changes what it buys or how it presents waste.

We can help with commercial food waste collection arrangements for canteens, staff kitchens and welfare areas.

Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

Wales requires most workplaces to separate specified materials for collection, and the Welsh list and exemptions differ from England’s. Scotland’s waste regulations place separate collection duties on many businesses, with thresholds and material lists that have changed over time. Northern Ireland has its own recycling and waste duties, and the simpler recycling framework as described for England does not apply there in the same form.

For a site operating across borders, the sensible approach is to check the rules for each nation separately rather than applying one policy across all locations. A group waste policy can set a common standard, but the legal minimum is set nationally.

Duty of care and records

Separating waste does not replace the duty of care. Anyone who produces, carries, keeps, treats or disposes of controlled waste must take reasonable steps to ensure it is handled properly and does not escape control. That includes checking that waste is transferred to an authorised person and keeping the paperwork.

Waste transfer notes and hazardous waste consignment notes support traceability. They record what left the site, when and to whom, but they do not by themselves prove that everything was handled correctly. The waste duty of care code of practice sets out the practical expectations in England and Wales.

Where a waste stream may be hazardous, classification should be based on the material and its contaminants, not on the name of the process that produced it. The Environment Agency’s waste classification technical guidance explains how that assessment is done. A waste audit can help a site understand its actual streams before containers and collections are changed.

Reviewing an existing arrangement

Many sites already separate some material and need only a check against the current rules. A useful review looks at where each stream arises, whether the containers match the volume, whether signage and placement work in practice, and whether the receiving route accepts what is being put in the bin.

We can help with reviewing workplace recycling arrangements, dry mixed recycling, food waste collections and the containers that support them. The starting point is usually a walk round the site and a look at recent transfer notes, not a new contract.