The government has on Friday published a policy update on recycling, introducing significant changes for businesses to streamline recycling practices and improve sustainability. Effective by 31 March 2025, these reforms set new standards for waste collection across England, aiming to create a consistent system that benefits the environment and reduces confusion.
Businesses and non-domestic premises, including schools and hospitals, must arrange for the collection of the following recyclable waste streams:
- Glass such as drinks bottles and rinsed empty food jars
- Metal such as drinks cans and food tins, empty aerosols, aluminium foil, aluminium food trays and tubes
- Plastic such as rinsed empty food containers and bottles
- Paper such as old newspapers and envelopes
- Cardboard such as delivery boxes and packaging
- Food leftovers or waste generated by food preparation
Businesses with fewer than 10 full-time equivalent employees (micro-firms) are exempt from these requirements until 31 March 2027.
Environmental charity WRAP has published a guide for the retail and wholesale sector, available here, to help implement recycling in the workplace.
Claire Shrewsbury, director of insights and innovation at WRAP, termed the incoming requirements on business recycling as a “hugely important step.”
“There are enormous environmental and financial gains to be realised by encouraging the 2.2 million business in England to separate food and recyclables from refuse. The two-year delay for micro-sized businesses will give smaller businesses more time to implement recycling into smaller or shared premises,” Shrewsbury said.
“WRAP is working with Defra and industry to develop new support tools and guidance to help all businesses with the transition. We will continue to work with trade bodies and local authorities to make transition as seamless as possible through our tools, technical support, and resources,” she added.
East of England Co-op Food store in Woolpit 