Simpler Recycling for businesses
From March 31 2025, businesses with more than 10 employees will be required to separate out particular materials for recycling and have a dedicated separate food waste collection.
Workplace recycling - What you need to know
The law is changing in England which will require you or your workplace to recycle a core set of recyclable materials.
When?
By 31 March 2025 – if you have 10 or more full- time equivalent (FTE) employees.
By 31 March 2027 – if you have fewer than 10 FTE employees in total across all of your premises.
What will I need to recycle?
You will need to recycle the following materials. Your waste collector will tell you which materials can go in the same bin for collection.
- Food waste
- Paper and card
- Plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays, and cartons
- Metal tins and cans, foil and empty aerosols
- Glass bottles and jars
- Plastic films (from 2027)
This is a legal requirement and ignoring the changes could result in compliance action being taken against your business.
Who needs to act?
All workplaces in England, including:
- Businesses
- Care homes
- Educational establishments
- Healthcare establishments
- Places of worship
- Penal institutes
- Charity shops
- Residential hostels
- Premises used for public meetings
What should you do now?
- Speak to your waste collector to check if your current services meet the requirements or if you need to make any changes
- Tell your staff about any new processes and how to recycle correctly. This might include signage on bins.
- Decide how frequently your recycling and food waste collections should be based on the amount of waste you produce.
- For more detail on the actions you need to take, you should check the guidance and the toolkit of supporting materials
National guidance
View the national guidance for Simpler recycling from 31 March 2025 (or 31 March 2027 for micro-firms) for waste collectors and workplaces on separating dry recyclables, food waste and black bin waste.
Business of Recycling website
Defra has funded the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) to develop the Business of Recycling Website.
This provides guidance and resources for specific business sectors and non-domestic premises such as schools and hospitals, on how to make the changes required.
The website also includes a waste calculator, that gives businesses the potential costs of their waste collection service, and ideas to improve waste efficiency.
Checklist for businesses
View a checklist for workplaces on what you need to do to comply with Simpler Recycling.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is changing?
Recycling law is changing in England. All workplaces (businesses and relevant non-domestic premises) will need to recycle the same core set of materials.
Why is the UK Government making these changes?
The UK Government want to move to a future where we keep our resources in use for longer, and reduce waste to landfill. Increased recycling and separately collecting food waste will help to reduce carbon emissions associated with waste and will support the nation's path to net zero.
Does this affect me?
The new requirements apply to organisations that are:
(a) acting in the course of a business (whether or not for profit)
(b) exercising a public function
The new requirements also affect the following relevant non-domestic premises:
- residential homes
- educational establishments (such as schools, colleges, and universities
- hospitals or nursing homes
- places of worship
- penal institutes (such as prisons)
- a charity shop selling donated goods originating from a domestic property
- a residential hostel which provides accommodation only to persons with no other permanent address or who are unable to live at their permanent address
- premises used wholly or mainly for public meetings
What do I need to do?
You will need to ensure that your waste collection service arranges for recyclable materials to be collected separately from your general waste and present your waste in accordance with Simpler Recycling requirements. The recyclable waste streams are plastic, metal, glass, paper and card, and food waste, and you can find more detail on what materials should be recycled in the Environment Act 2021.
You will need to ensure that you are using the system for keeping those materials separate as advised by your waste collection service, whilst also not mixing recyclable waste with general waste.
When do I need to do it?
By 31 March 2025, if you have ten or more full-time equivalent employees.
By 31 March 2027, if you have fewer than ten full-time equivalent employees.
By 31 March 2027 you will also need to arrange for the collection of flexible plastics.
Do volunteers working at a premises count as Full Time Equivalent employees?
Volunteers are not included in determining the Full Time Equivalent employee count for an organisation. This includes organisations that have volunteers across multiple premises.
Does the number of employees relate to per premise or the business as whole?
Employment is measured per enterprise rather than per unit, therefore multi-branch enterprises that employ over 10 FTE across multiple units are not within scope of this exemption and would need to implement these changes by 31 March 2025.
My workplace has a combination of full and part-time staff. How do I know whether I fit in the micro-firm definition?
A business is a micro-firm if the number of full-time equivalent employees is less than ten. You can determine whether an organisation qualifies as a micro-firm by adding together the number of full-time staff and a fraction based on pro-rata hours part-time
members of staff have worked in the qualifying 12 week period. A worked example is included below:
Your business employs 6 full-time members of staff who each work 37 hours per week and 6 part-time members of staff who each work 18 hours a week, one of whom has only worked for the business for 2 weeks.
For each of the 4 part-time employees who have worked at the business for the full 12 week period, you would take the total number of hours worked (216) and divide it by 12 (18), then divide that by 37 (0.48).
For the employee who has worked for only 2 weeks, the total hours worked (36) would be divided by 2, to also get 0.48.
Each part-time employee’s full-time equivalent hours are 0.48, meaning the total number of full-time equivalent employees is (0.48 x 5 = 2.4) + 6 = 8.4. This business would therefore qualify as a micro-firm.
What will happen if I do not recycle correctly?
The Environment Agency will be able to issue a compliance notice against anyone that is a party to arrangements for collection made under section 45AZA or section 45AZB (industrial or commercial waste) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, that is not compliant with the requirements.
Compliance notices can be issued against anyone who is not presenting the waste separately in accordance with the arrangements agreed with the waste collector. This will often be the waste producers (e.g. a business) but may also be, for example, landlords or facilities management companies presenting waste on behalf of the waste producer.
It is an offence to fail to comply with a compliance notice and you may be liable on conviction to pay a fine.
The Environment Agency is committed to supporting businesses - both waste producers and collectors in understanding their duties, to that end they will be delivering a range of engagement activities, guidance, and resources up to and beyond the commencement of the legislation, supporting monitoring of business readiness activities, awareness and understanding through stakeholder industry and trade forums. They will take a pragmatic approach to implementation where appropriate, working with stakeholders to support them in overcoming any difficulties they might face in relation to compliance within the legislative timeframes.
I do not produce much food waste – do I still need a separate collection?
All workplaces producing food waste (including teabags etc) will need to arrange for separate collection 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.
Workplaces have flexibility to decide on the frequency of collections to align with the volume of waste they produce, so it is possible to arrange for infrequent collections if this suits the needs of the workplace best. Workplaces could also consider sharing facilities with neighbouring premises where quantities are small, with the agreement of the neighbouring premises and the waste collector.
Do I need to provide recycling and food waste bins front of store for customers?
Workplaces will be required to present their waste for collection in accordance with the new requirements, however businesses won’t be obligated to provide a bin for their customers. If businesses choose to provide bins, they will be 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.
I'm a charity run by staff and volunteers. Do the new requirements apply to my organisation?
Yes. Simpler Recycling requirements will apply to all premises which produce commercial waste that is household-like (similar in nature and composition to household waste). This includes charities, and all relevant non-domestic premises, including those registered as charities.
We use a compost system for food waste. Is this still allowed?
You will be able to continue to compost your food waste. 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.
Businesses should take note of separate guidance on the composting of food waste at commercial premises, which can be found on the Government website.
Is there any funding available for businesses to implement these changes?
No, it is expected that businesses will continue to pay for their own waste management services. However, we will be providing advice and guidance for workplaces as they transition to compliance with the new recycling requirements