Simpler Recycling has arrived – What does it mean for businesses? And what is the issue with food waste for businesses open to the public?

Simpler Recycling is a set of legislative and policy provisions aimed to improve the recycling requirements in England by introducing a new default requirement for households, businesses and relevant non-domestic premises to separate non-recyclable waste from recyclable waste and further segregating recyclable waste into the relevant waste streams. While there are several waste streams, the new default requirement for most households and businesses will be 4 containers for: 

• residual (non-recyclable) waste, 
• food waste (mixed with garden waste if appropriate)
• paper and card
• all other dry recyclable materials (plastic, metal and glass)

Does this affect me?

Yes, it very likely affects you or your business. 

Simpler recycling is applicable to:

• Households
• Non-domestic premises (like residential homes, premises forming part of a university or school or other educational establishment, premises forming part of a hospital or nursing home, among others)
• All businesses (yes, every single business disregarding its size, sector, or volume/type of waste they produce)

When do I need to comply?

Likely starting from today.

There is a phased implementation of Simpler Recycling. However, starting from today 31 March, all businesses and other non-household premises with 10 or more full-time employees must comply with Simpler Recycling. 

Local authorities as the collectors of household waste must comply by 31 March 2026, and micro-firms must comply by 31 March 2027.

What is the issue of food waste for businesses? 

Here is where it gets a bit more complicated.

Section 45AZB of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 (“EPA 1990”), requires the separate collection of Recyclable Relevant Waste for the collection of industrial or commercial waste. Based on the wording used in the regulations and policy documents, this obligation is applicable to all business or workplace premises that generates waste that is similar in nature and composition to household waste.

Offices should be able to comply without major problems by implementing different waste bins and educating its workers.

The issue is with businesses that have infrastructure used by the public (like stadiums, bus/train stations, airports, etc.). These also need to comply, but they need to segregate both the waste they produce and the waste that their customers produce. 

This means segregating the food waste the customers produce even when the main business is not related to food production. This is emphasized by the Guidance “Simpler recycling: workplace recycling in England”:

“Food waste is: 

- food leftovers 

- waste generated by preparing food (of any volume, including if the workplace does not serve food or have a canteen)”

This guidance gives some flexibility to businesses to provide or not provide bins for customers:

“Workplaces can decide on the size of containers and frequency of collections based on the volume of waste they produce. You do not need to provide bins for your customers, however, if you provide bins, you will need to separate dry recyclable waste, food waste and black bin waste.”

However, I think I speak for everyone when I say that I would not like to be trapped in an airport that has zero waste bins while I’m waiting to catch my connection flight. So, while some flexibility is given by the guidance, it is likely that several businesses will be forced to implement separate bins for their customers if they want to provide their customers with an appropriate service.

Food waste segregation, apart from being mandatory, does not allow for exceptions either. Section 45AZB(6) of the EPA 1990 allows for some flexibility to combine waste streams (i.e. collecting metals and plastics using the same bins) if it is not technically or economically practicable to collect these waste streams separately, or if collecting the waste streams separately has no significant environmental benefit. However, Section 45AZB(7) clarifies that this only applies for combining glass, metal, plastic; paper and card, and not food waste.

In any case, the guidance is clear as it provides that “You must always separate dry recyclable waste, food waste and black bin waste from each other”. 

Given the above, it is likely that businesses that have infrastructure used by the public will need to implement a separate food waste bin for their customers.

Do I need to add a food waste bin next to all my other bins?

No.

Legislation and policy are silent on the number and location of food waste bins, and for other types of bins in general. This makes sense as the needs of each business will be different, so flexibility is needed to determine the proper location of the bins. 

In practice, you don’t need to have four bins (general waste, food waste, paper, and other dry recyclables) together all the time. However, you still need to provide all these bins somewhere easily accessible to allow customers to find them and properly segregate waste.

What happens if I don’t implement food bins for my customers in my business?

This might cause you some troubles. 

If food bins are not provided, then customers are still going to have to dispose their food waste somewhere and they will put it either in the general waste bin, or (while less likely) in your other recyclable bins.

First, while the collection of waste is not strictly a duty of the producers of waste, the Guidance “Simpler recycling: workplace recycling in England” provides that the Environment Agency can issue compliance notices against anyone who is not “separating” waste in agreement with their waste collector.  The compliance notice will give a period to implement the actions required to be compliant with Simpler Recycling, but failing to comply with the compliance notice is considered a criminal offence. Note that there is an appeal process available if a compliance notice is issued.

Second, the waste collector could refuse to collect your waste if it does not meet the requirements in the legislation. Regulation 3(4) of SoW Regs 2024 provides that as far as waste within the glass, metal, plastic and paper and card waste streams is concerned, such waste is to be treated as Recyclable Relevant Waste only if the waste item is:

• Empty
• Not heavily contaminated by other substances; and
• Not classified as packaging with the waste code 150110 in the List of Waste (packaging containing residues of or contaminated by hazardous substances).

The government has not established standards for the presence of food waste in other streams, so if food waste is mixed with any of the other waste streams, then there is a possibility that those other streams might be considered “heavily contaminated” and rejected by the waste collector.

When are recyclables considered “heavily contaminated”?

The Guidance “Simpler recycling: workplace recycling in England” clarifies that Black bin waste or residual waste is defined as highly contaminated materials like food packaging that “cannot be washed”.

The Policy Paper “Simpler Recycling in England: policy update” provides that the criterion for rejecting contaminated materials is the economic viability of re-processing them:

“Co-collecting dry materials

Stakeholder evidence

[…] The Secretary of State for Defra has concluded, based on the evidence, that:

- contaminated materials may be rejected after collection if it is not economically viable to re-process them, reducing the amount of material recycled […]

Following the policies above, minor amounts of food waste contamination in the glass, metal, plastic and paper and card waste streams which can be removed by washing using processes that are not economically unviable, would constitute an acceptable level of contamination. 

Just note that this is unlikely to be the case if a business does not provide their customers with bins to segregate food waste from other types of waste.

Does this mean that there must be zero food waste in my general waste bin?

Not really.

As provided in the Guidance “Simpler recycling: workplace recycling in England”, the legal duty of waste collectors is only to “make sure that dry recyclable materials (plastic, metal, glass, paper and card) and food waste are collected separately from residual waste”. It does not impose a duty to make sure that residual waste must have zero food waste.

Apart from that, total segregation of waste is not realistic in practice. There will always be a level of human error when segregating waste, mainly when the customers are the ones using the bins. 

What can I do if I need legal support on Simpler Recycling?

Please contact Claire Petricca-Riding if you would like to discuss any issues relating to the application of Simpler Recycling legislation and policy.