Simpler Recycling - what your business must do

Simpler Recycling is a legal requirement for businesses and non-domestic premises in England only. It requires you to separate your waste into specific recyclable streams and arrange for them to be collected separately from your general (residual) waste.

The rules were introduced under the Environment Act 2021 and came into effect in phases:

• 31 March 2025: All businesses with 10 or more full-time equivalent (FTE) employees must comply
• 31 March 2027: Micro-firms (fewer than 10 FTE employees) must comply

Count employees across the whole business, not per site: a business with 3 sites of 5 employees each has 15 and is not a micro-firm. Count part-time staff pro rata. Volunteers, contractors, and self-employed workers do not count towards your employee total. If you are a micro-firm, you do not need to register for or apply for the temporary exemption - it applies automatically based on your employee count.

What you must separate

Under Simpler Recycling, you must keep these streams apart before collection and arrange for them to be collected separately:

1. Dry recyclables: Paper and cardboard, plastic, metal (cans, tins, foil and empty aerosols), and glass. Paper and card must be collected separately from plastic, metal and glass, unless your waste collector completes a written co-collection assessment. Follow your collector's instructions on how to present them.
2. Food waste: All food waste must be separated and collected separately, however little you produce and even if your workplace does not serve food or have a kitchen. It includes leftovers, fruit peel, coffee grounds, tea bags and preparation waste. Do not ask staff to take food waste home.
3. Residual waste: Everything that cannot be recycled goes into your general waste stream.

The rules cover waste from your customers and visitors as well as your staff. If you put out bins for the public, the waste must be separated before collection.

Packaging labelled compostable or biodegradable cannot go in with food waste: treat it as general waste unless you arrange a dedicated collection. Caddy liners, including compostable ones, can go with food waste. Composting food waste on site is a permitted alternative to a food waste collection, if you follow the composting rules.

If your business produces garden waste, you must arrange for it to be recycled or composted where that gives the best environmental outcome. You do not have to separate textiles or other materials beyond these streams, although you may choose to.

Arrange your collections

You must ensure your waste collector provides separate collection for the required waste streams. If your current waste collector cannot accommodate this, you may need to change provider or add supplementary collections.

What to do:

• Contact your waste collector to confirm they offer separate collection of dry recyclables and food waste
• Provide appropriate bins or containers for each waste stream in your workplace
• Brief your staff on which waste goes in which container
• Display clear signage near waste containers showing what can and cannot go in each

Your collector can be a private company or your council, and you can use more than one. Check that any company you use is on the public register of waste carriers, brokers and dealers.

When you review or renew a contract, confirm that the collector will take each stream separately and send it for recycling or composting. Separated waste must not be mixed back in with other waste later. Check the contract's terms on contamination too: collectors often reserve the right to refuse, or to charge extra for, heavily contaminated recycling.

Waste collectors have their own legal duty to collect dry recyclables and food waste separately from residual waste. Anyone can report a collector that is not following the rules to the Environment Agency.

Exemptions and special circumstances

The exemptions are limited:

• Micro-firms: Businesses with fewer than 10 FTE employees have until 31 March 2027 to comply. This exemption applies automatically.
• Co-collection: Where separate collection is not technically or economically practicable, or where it has no significant environmental benefit, a waste collector may complete a written co-collection assessment and collect paper and card with the other dry recyclables. This is the collector's decision, not yours as a business.

Enforcement

The Environment Agency enforces Simpler Recycling. If you do not separate your waste as required, it can serve you a compliance notice, and failing to comply with a compliance notice is an offence. Notices can also go to landlords or facilities management companies that put waste out on a business's behalf.

Where it finds contaminated recycling, the Environment Agency says it will take a pragmatic and proportionate approach.