Guide
Simpler Recycling for workplaces: the duty in full
Updated
The headline is three bins. The detail is a set of obligations split between you and your collector, and the parts that catch people out are the ones that are not about bins at all.
What you must separate
All workplaces in England must separate their waste before it is collected, including waste produced by employees, customers and visitors. gov.uk states you must always separate dry recyclable materials (plastic, metal, glass, paper and card), food waste, and non-recyclable waste, also called residual waste. You can have separate bins for each type or separate the waste before collection, and you decide container sizes and collection frequency based on the volume you produce (gov.uk).
Who is in scope
gov.uk lists offices, retail and wholesale, transport, hospitality, holiday parks and short-term rentals, entertainment and sports venues, agricultural premises, construction sites, warehouses, manufacturing, temporary event venues, places of education, healthcare premises, care homes, charities and charity shops, places of worship, penal institutes, certain residential hostels and premises used mainly for public meetings. It adds that the list is not complete, and that if you generate waste similar in nature and composition to household waste, you are likely to be in scope.
The obligations that are not about bins
- Customer and visitor waste is yours. If you provide bins for customers or visitors, you need to separate that waste before collection too.
- Garden waste. If the workplace generates garden waste you must arrange for it to be recycled or composted where that delivers the best environmental outcome.
- Registered carrier. You must make sure the company collecting is registered on the public register of waste carriers, brokers and dealers. You may use more than one provider, private or the local authority.
- Cooking oil never goes down the drain. Small amounts of fats, oils and greases can go with food waste, or through a used cooking oil collection, following your collector's instructions.
- Compostable and biodegradable packaging is not food waste. gov.uk states it cannot be recycled with food waste and should be treated as non-recyclable or given a dedicated collection. Caddy liners, including compostable ones, can go with the food waste.
What your collector has to do
The duty is not all yours. Waste collectors have a legal duty to make sure dry recyclable materials and food waste are collected separately from non-recyclable waste, and gov.uk states that waste separated for recycling must be collected for recycling or composting and cannot later be mixed with other waste streams. Paper and card must be collected separately from plastic, metal and glass, unless that is not technically or economically practicable or has no significant environmental benefit, in which case the collector can complete a written co-collection assessment. Compliance notices can be issued against a waste collector too, excluding a waste collection authority.
Contamination
gov.uk advises clear instructions and signage on or near bins, and fixing recurring contamination by changing signs, bin locations or bin numbers rather than by escalating. If you identify significant contamination before collection you should dispose of that load as general waste. Collectors typically include contract clauses letting them refuse collection or charge more for heavily contaminated recycling. On inspection, gov.uk states the Environment Agency will take a pragmatic and proportionate approach to contamination.
Anyone can report a workplace or private waste collector that is not following these rules to the Environment Agency (gov.uk). That includes your own staff, your neighbours and your competitors.