Your business waste and the law

The new legislation requires all businesses, health and social care establishments and academic institutions to separate a number of recyclables from their general waste.

These include glass bottles and jars, metal food and drinks cans, plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays, paper and cardboard and food waste.

Businesses and organisations with ten or more full-time employees

These businesses and organisations are required to make arrangements for the collection of:

• dry recyclable materials (except plastic film) after 31 March 2025

• food waste after 31 March 2025

• plastic film after 31 March 2027

The Council collection services include these materials - making customers compliant already

Businesses and organisations with fewer than ten full-time employees

These businesses and organisations (classed as micro-firms) are required to make arrangements for the collection of:

• dry recyclable materials (including plastic film) after 31 March 2027

• food waste after 31 March 2027

What the regulations will mean for businesses

The new regulations mean that in future, no waste from businesses can be sent for disposal unless it can be shown to have gone through a treatment process. The simplest way to provide this treatment is to separate your waste for reuse or recycling. The aim is to increase recycling rates and reduce the amount of waste we send for disposal. It will also help reduce your business costs, save energy, conserve natural resources and protect the environment.