A new series of laws in conjunction to combatting food waste is to come into affect on the 31st of March 2025. Is your business prepared?

Businesses that employ more than 10 members of staff will be required to seperate their food waste and dry recycling from their normal food waste supply, by law.  This is now being enforced due to the Governments tightining on improving the carbon footprint and effectively showing initiative in aiming to reduce the negative impact from the commercial sector. 

What is the new recycling legislation?

According to the Environment Act 2021 (Commencement No. 9 and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2024, the new legislation mandates the following:

• Businesses in England of 10 employees or more producing more than 5 kg of food waste per week (equivalent to the weight of a bowling ball) must arrange for its separate collection by a licensed waste carrier.  (‘Food waste’ is defined to include a wide range of biodegradable materials, such as fruit and vegetable peels, bones, eggshells, coffee grounds, and even tea bags)
• Dry waste recycling must be separate from the general waste

Key Requirements of the New UK Recycling Laws

The new recycling laws require businesses to segregate the following materials for recycling:

• Glass: Such as empty drink bottles and rinsed food jars.
• Metal: Including drink cans, food tins, empty aerosols, aluminium foil, trays, and tubes.
• Plastic: For example rinsed empty food containers and bottles.
• Paper and Cardboard.
• Cartons: For food, drinks, and other liquids.
• Food Waste.

These materials must be kept separate to ensure they are not contaminated by non-recyclable waste, maximising their potential for recycling.

Organise your stations

The first step is to focus on shifting to the new regulations by organising your waste in a clear and methodical way. Ensure you have the appropriate bins for each type of food sector that is being impacted in the new legislation. This includes: 

• General Waste Bins: For all non-recyclable products 
• Food Waste Bins: Physical items of food only 
• Recycling Bins: Glass only
• Recycling Bins: Plastic only
• Recycling Bins: Paper & Cardboard only
• Recycling Bins: Metal only

Start to Reduce Your Food Waste

A big way in helping withstand the new regulations is to try and reduce the amount of food waste coming out of the business. 

This can go a long way into ensuring it is easier to manage your food waste. Little reminders around the office or encouraging people to bring their lunch in with them are a couple of ways a business can solve the issue of too much food waste. 

Other business practices that should be enforced are adequate training for your staff. Ensure all the staff know the regulation and are aware of the different sets of bins within the office/warehouse.

Label Your Bins

To help with segregation, label your bins with different stickers so it's easier for your staff to stick to the correct rules. 

We have a range of recycling bins that come with stickers that can define each bin with different types of products to enter.

• General Waste
• Plastic
• Glass
• Mixed Recycling
• Paper
• Food & Drink Cans
• Food Waste