Best practice waste management at work looks something like this:
- minimal waste produced thanks to prevention and re-use strategies
- separate bins for recycling, food waste, and general waste
- documented collections made by registered waste carriers
- engagement and awareness to help ensure waste goes to the right place
If this is more or less how waste is managed at your place of work, great news!
If not, you may need to take action this month as new “Simpler recycling” regulations come into force in England that make workplace waste separation and recycling mandatory.
Here’s an overview.
Who must comply?
As of 31 March 2025, all workplaces in England with 10 or more employees must ensure they are separating dry recyclables and food waste from residual “black bin” waste.
The new legal duties, announced in November 2024, apply to businesses and non-domestic premises. This includes offices, shops, restaurants, schools, hospitals, places of worship, and any other premises where 10 or more people are employed.
From 31 March 2027 the legislation will extend to include micro-firms with fewer than 10 employees.
How should waste be separated?
The new regulations require separate collections for the following waste streams:
Dry recyclable materials – This includes plastic, metal, and glass as well as paper and card or cardboard. These items are sometimes combined into one “blue bin” waste stream for collection. But if your waste collector makes a separate collection of paper and card, these need to be kept separate from other dry recyclables.
Food waste – Organic waste must be collected separately from other waste. This will normally include “green bin” food waste such as coffee grounds and leftovers but may also include garden waste if relevant.
Residual “black bin” waste – This category includes waste that is neither dry recyclable nor organic waste. This must not contain waste such as appliances, IT equipment, lighting, electronic toys and other devices, batteries, toner cartridges and other WEEE (waste electrical and electronic equipment) already required to be segregated under existing waste regulations. These items must be further separated into hazardous and non-hazardous waste where relevant and treated as separate collections.
If you have questions about what waste can and must be separated at your workplace, you should discuss these requirements with your registered waste collector directly or via your landlord or building management. Waste collectors have a legal duty to comply with the new legal requirements and should be able to support you in aligning your waste separation in accordance with the new rules. You can also consult the resources available on the Business of Recycling website developed by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and Defra.
Why is this new legislation important?
By standardising workplace waste separation practices and bringing them into line with typical household collections, the new requirements make implementation of the waste hierarchy business as usual. The intent is to improve recycling rates, minimise contamination between waste streams, and reduce the wider environmental impacts of waste handling.
There will also be consequences for non-compliance. As the guidance states, “If you do not comply with these requirements by 31 March 2025 (or 31 March 2027 for micro firms), you are at risk of receiving a compliance notice from the Environment Agency.” Information on how the general public and other parties can report non-compliance will be available from April 2025.
Let’s check those bins!
Need further help?
At Grain we have long experience in waste management best practice in the context of ISO 14001:2015 (Environmental Management System) implementation as well as deep industry insights through our support for leading UK anaerobic digestion (AD) supplier, Bio Capital. We have honed our expertise in this area through our work with a range of clients who manage and report on waste as part of carbon footprinting, Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) requirements, and other mandatory compliance and voluntary reporting frameworks.
Get in touch to discuss your company’s waste management strategy.
