From 31st March 2025, the new Simpler Recycling scheme becomes law in England, affecting all households, businesses, commercial premises and non-domestic premises, such as schools and hospitals. It could affect your waste management strategy and costs, so here we’ll break down the details so you can plan accordingly – and avoid a sanction by the Environment Agency.
What is the Simpler Recycling Scheme?
The idea behind the Simpler Recycling scheme is to simplify recycling. For businesses and micro-businesses, the waste categories liable for recycling are:
- Food waste
- Residual waste
- Dry recyclable materials
If your business generates garden waste, it’s down to you to decide how it best fits into the specified categories and ensure it gets recycled accordingly.
How does food waste need to be managed under the new rules?
The new policy sets out new, clearer requirements for establishing:
- What is and is not food waste
- How food waste must be separated
- How often it should be collected
What is food waste?
The definition of food waste is any form of food leftovers or waste generated by producing food, such as aluminium foil or disposable cutlery. This applies even if your business doesn’t serve food in any form. For example, under the new requirements, the staff kitchen must now give people the opportunity to sort their own waste into food or residual waste categories. And it’s the responsibility of the business to ensure the waste is properly sorted into recycling categories and collected correctly.
Which businesses need to comply?
Beginning 1st April 2025, all businesses with more than 10 full time employees in total are required to comply with Simpler Recycling. It’s not specific to any one location, so a business with seven employees in one location and four in another are still required to comply.
Businesses with fewer than 10 full time employees (micro businesses) are required to comply by 31st March 2027.
How do businesses comply with Simpler Recycling?
Businesses have a duty of care and must take reasonable steps to ensure that any and all generated waste is sorted into dry recycling, residual waste and food waste.
Examples of reasonable steps include:
- Providing employees facilities to manage their waste into recycling
- Providing enough storage for waste of different categories, e.g. larger bins
- Ensuring adequate collection frequencies appropriate for the amount and type of waste generated
- Displaying signage to inform staff and ensure their compliance
- Checking your waste is collected by a registered waste collection company
It’s down to the business to organise waste collection and frequency, which can include Local Authority collections, or collections by a private sector company. Waste collection companies have a legal duty to ensure that dry recyclables, food waste and residual waste are collected separately.
However, if this is not technically or economically practicable, or has no significant environmental benefit, the waste collector can complete a written co-collection assessment.
Either way, the company collecting and handling your business waste must be on the Public Register of Waste Carriers, Brokers and Dealers.
If you need help with ensuring your business is compliant with the Simpler Recycling Scheme, then reach out to one of our commercial waste specialists.
How will the scheme be enforced?
Non-compliance with the Simpler Recycling scheme can be reported via the Defra website. The general public is encouraged to report non-complying businesses.
Waste collectors can also report a business if they fail to sort their waste into pre-agreed categories.
What to do to comply
You’ll need to assess the volume of each type of waste you generate, and ensure you have the capacity to store it in between collections. Collections can be made as often as you need them. Defra have a waste calculator to help businesses calculate business waste and costs. Unfortunately, there’s no current funding available to help with any increased costs.
If you’re not already practising some form of recycling with your current waste collector, discuss your new obligations with them to see how they can accommodate you. Some collectors may specialise in some types of waste, or be ill-equipped to handle others. Make sure you’ve planned in advance so that any changes in collections will have minimal impact on your operations.
Need a skip?
Too much waste, not enough space? Book a skip for same day delivery and get rid of your recycling fast. Whether you need a secure skip or to remove heavily contaminated waste or have a surplus of dry recycling, if you need a skip in Manchester, Sheridan Skips will get one to you in a matter of hours. Call us on 0161 675 0640 to get a quote or discuss your requirements.
