Business owners are responsible for dealing with the disposal of their commercial waste, including recycling.
You are responsible for your waste from when you produce it until you have transferred it to an authorised waste carrier.
Under new Simpler Recycling legislation from Defra, by 31 March 2025, businesses in England will need to arrange for the collection of the core recyclable waste streams, with the exception of garden waste (glass, metal, plastic, paper and card, and food waste)
Micro-firms (businesses with fewer than 10 full-time equivalent employees) will be temporarily exempt from this requirement. They will have until 31 March 2027 to arrange for recycling of core recyclable waste streams
Each type of waste must be stored separately and collected by a licensed waste carrier. The Simpler Recycling legislation aims to increase recycling rate, reduce waste and move towards a circular economy.
If your business operates from multiple premises, and the total number of employees across the whole business is over 10, then you will have until 31 March 2025 to comply with the legislation. This applies even if the number of employees per site is below 10. However, microbusinesses with fewer than 10 employees across all sites will have until 31 March 2027 to comply.
Business owners will be responsible for altering their commercial waste contracts to include food waste and recycling collections. Please speak to your chosen waste carrier about the different storage options for each of the waste streams, depending on the space you have available for storage. Under the new legislation, it is mandatory for businesses to collect food waste separately, even if the business does not sell food or provide a catering service for its staff, however each business can decide its own frequency of collection based on how much food waste they produce.
The new requirements for workplaces will be to separate for collection:
- Non-recyclable waste (residual/general waste)
- Food waste
- Dry recycling (plastic, glass and metal and paper and card.)
*Please speak to your waste carrier to discuss container types to suit the space you have available. Bags or stackable containers may be available to businesses with limited space.
You must:
- keep waste to a minimum by doing everything you reasonably can to prevent, reuse, recycle or recover waste (in that order)
- sort and store waste safely and securely
- separate food waste and other recycling (glass, plastic, paper and card and metal e.g. tins, cans and foil) from general waste and arrange for them to be collected separately
- provide separate bins/containers for your staff to use for each waste stream
- educate your staff on the importance of separating the different waste streams
- complete a waste transfer note for each load of waste that leaves your premises (records must be kept for at least two years).
- check if your waste carrier is registered to dispose of waste
- not allow the waste carrier to dispose of your waste illegally (and report them if they do)
- You have extra responsibilities if you’re dealing with hazardous waste.
- under no circumstances dispose of your trade waste through your household waste collection.
From 31 March 2025, new waste regulations under the Environment Act 2021, will come into effect affecting businesses across England.
Under the new regulations, businesses with 10 or more full-time equivalent employees must now separate their waste provisions into:
- general waste, recycling, and food waste
Businesses with fewer than 10 full-time equivalent employees have until 31 March 2027 to comply with these requirements..
Brent Councils, Veolia commercial waste team is here to support your transition by offering separate waste containers, and educational materials, and conducting a waste audit to ensure compliance. You can contact us by emailing uk.brentcommercialwaste@veolia.com
Find more information on how to get rid of business or commercial waste the GOV.UK website.
Fines
Failure to produce documentation including waste transfer notes on demand can result in a fixed penalty notice of £300 or prosecution where the maximum fine is £5000.
If you place waste out in anything other than the bags/tape or bins provided by your waste collector this will be considered illegal rubbish dumping (flytipping) and you could be liable for a £400 fixed penalty notice or prosecution in the magistrates courts.
We can issue fines known as Fixed Penalty Notices for a range of environmental offences including littering and failure to lawfully get rid of trade waste. Failure to pay Fixed Penalty Fines can result in prosecution.
We will:
- investigate business waste dumped on the public highway
- give advice to traders about their legal responsibilities for the disposal of their waste
- use a clear, reasonable and fair enforcement policy which favours education and working with traders and businesses.
- We are developing a leadership role around educating businesses in respect of their Duty of Care responsibilities, to reduce fly-tipping.
Our work includes:
- explaining to businesses why enforcement action is needed, taking account of the needs of the local community
- enforcing the relevant legislation in respect of trade waste disposal by local businesses, in conformity with the Government Good Enforcement Concordat
- supplying a list of waste disposal firms who operate in the area together with details of civic amenity sites who accept trade waste
- making regular checks on businesses to ensure that they are storing and disposing of their waste regularly and correctly.