Simpler Recycling for Businesses: What UK Businesses Need to Do
- Biofuture
- 1 day ago
- 19 min read
If you run a business in England, Simpler Recycling has changed how you need to manage your workplace waste.
Since 31 March 2025, businesses and other non-domestic premises with 10 or more full-time equivalent (FTE) employees have had to separate dry recyclable waste, food waste and residual waste before collection. Micro firms with fewer than 10 FTE employees have until 31 March 2027 to comply.
For businesses that haven't yet changed their waste arrangements, that 2027 deadline is closer than it looks.
Simpler Recycling isn't just about adding a few extra bins around the workplace. Businesses need to understand which waste streams they produce, where that waste is generated, what their collector actually accepts, how to keep contamination down, and, for food businesses in particular, how to make food waste separation work in practice rather than just on paper.
As a supplier of compostable food waste liners and sustainable food packaging, Biofuture works at the point where waste policy meets the day-to-day running of a kitchen or workplace. This guide sets out what Simpler Recycling means for businesses and how to put an effective food waste and recycling system in place.
Important: Simpler Recycling applies to workplaces in England. Your waste collector's own arrangements will determine exactly how individual materials are presented and collected, so check their requirements before changing your waste system.
In this guide: Jump to the section you need using the links below.
What is Simpler Recycling for Businesses?
Simpler Recycling is the name given to changes in waste and recycling requirements in England, designed to make recycling more consistent and reduce the amount of recyclable material ending up in general waste.
For businesses and other relevant non-domestic premises, the principle is straightforward: dry recyclable waste, food waste and residual waste must be separated from each other before collection.
The required dry recyclable materials include:
Paper and cardboard
Plastic
Metal
Glass
Food waste must also be collected separately, while non-recyclable material goes into the residual waste stream.
The legislation doesn't require every business to run an identical set of bins. You can organise your internal waste system however suits your premises, provided the required streams are separated in line with the arrangements agreed with your waste collector.
That distinction matters in practice. Simpler Recycling tells you what needs to be separated; your waste collector will generally decide the most practical way for those materials to be presented and collected.
When Does Simpler Recycling Apply to Businesses?
The requirements have come in stages.
Businesses with 10 or more FTE employees
Businesses and other relevant non-domestic premises with 10 or more full-time equivalent employees have had to comply since 31 March 2025. If your business meets this threshold, the requirements are already in force.
Micro firms with fewer than 10 FTE employees
Businesses with fewer than 10 FTE employees have a temporary exemption until 31 March 2027. This matters especially for small cafés, independent restaurants, takeaways, shops, offices and other small businesses that may not have changed their waste arrangements yet.
The exemption is temporary, not permanent, and micro firms don't need to register or apply for it.
Does the 10 employee threshold apply to each location?
No. The FTE calculation applies to the business as a whole, not to headcount at each individual premises.
For example, say a business has three locations with five FTE employees at each:
Site 1: 5 FTE
Site 2: 5 FTE
Site 3: 5 FTE
Total: 15 FTE
That business isn't a micro firm just because each site individually falls under 10 employees. This is particularly relevant if you operate several cafés, restaurants or shops under one business.
How are part-time employees counted?
Part-time staff are counted pro rata when calculating FTE. Volunteers, contractors and self-employed workers don't count towards the total.
Which Businesses Need to Follow Simpler Recycling?
The workplace requirements cover a wide range of organisations and sectors in England, including:
Cafés
Restaurants
Takeaways
Pubs
Hotels
Offices
Retail businesses
Wholesalers
Schools and universities
Healthcare premises
Care homes
Warehouses
Factories and workshops
Construction sites
Events and venues
Charities
Places of worship
Holiday accommodation
Sports and entertainment venues
This list isn't exhaustive. If your workplace produces waste similar in nature and composition to household waste, you're likely within scope.
What Waste Does a Business Need to Separate?
The simplest way to think about Simpler Recycling is in three broad categories:
Waste stream | What it means |
Dry recyclable waste | Paper, cardboard, plastic, metal and glass |
Food waste | Food and food preparation waste |
Residual waste | Waste that can't go into the required recycling or food waste streams |
Your waste collector will tell you how these materials should be presented. Some collectors offer a dry mixed recycling service, collecting several recyclable materials together and sorting them later. Glass may be collected separately, depending on your arrangement.
The key point is that recyclable material shouldn't go into general waste simply because it's more convenient.
What Counts as Dry Recyclable Waste?
The dry recyclable stream includes:
Paper and cardboard: newspapers, envelopes, cardboard boxes, paper packaging, cardboard food packaging
Plastic: plastic bottles, empty food containers, pots, tubs, trays, certain plastic tubes, relevant cartons
Metal: drinks cans, food tins, aluminium foil, aluminium food trays, certain aerosols, metal packaging lids
Glass: glass bottles, empty food jars
Not everything made from these materials belongs in the recycling stream. Government guidance excludes various non-packaging glass products, certain contaminated or specialist materials, and plastic packaging labelled compostable or biodegradable. That's one reason clear signage matters more than simply labelling a bin "recycling".
Food Waste: One of the Biggest Practical Changes for Businesses
For many businesses, especially in hospitality, food waste is likely to be the most noticeable change.
Under the workplace guidance, food waste must be collected separately even if a workplace doesn't serve food or have a kitchen, and regardless of how little food waste is produced. Employees shouldn't be asked to simply take workplace food waste home.
Food waste can include:
Uneaten meals
Customer plate scrapings
Staff food waste
Fruit and vegetable peelings
Apple cores and banana skins
Coffee grounds and tea bags
Food preparation waste
Eggshells and bones
For a café or restaurant, that can add up to a significant share of daily waste. For an office, it might just mean coffee grounds, tea bags, lunch leftovers and fruit peelings. Either way, the principle holds: food waste needs its own collection route.
Where Should Food Waste Bins Go?
One of the easiest mistakes is putting a food waste bin somewhere convenient for whoever manages the waste, rather than somewhere convenient for the people actually producing it.
Government guidance recommends placing food waste bins wherever food waste is likely to be generated, such as staff rooms, canteens, kitchens, food preparation areas, food halls and areas where customers eat. Check where food waste is actually turning up, then add bins there.
For a small café, a sensible setup might look like:
Behind the counter: a small food waste caddy for preparation waste
Customer area: a clearly marked food waste bin, if customers are expected to dispose of leftovers themselves
Kitchen: a larger food waste container for consolidating waste before collection
The right arrangement depends on the size and layout of your business.
A practical lesson: think about the smaller bins too
When businesses introduce food waste collection for the first time, the challenge isn't always the external collection container. It's often the smaller internal bins used by staff throughout the day.
At Biofuture, we've found that businesses need somewhere convenient to put food waste at the point where it's actually generated, before it reaches the main collection container. If staff have to carry food waste across a kitchen or workplace to find the right bin, contamination and poor separation become more likely.
It's worth mapping out where food waste is actually produced before deciding how many bins you need. A well placed small caddy at a preparation area or staff kitchen can matter just as much to the system as the larger container used for collection.
Can Compostable Bin Liners Go in Food Waste?
Yes. Compostable caddy liners can be collected with food waste, and this is an important distinction in the Simpler Recycling guidance.
The government states that packaging labelled "compostable" or "biodegradable" cannot be recycled with food waste. Caddy liners, though, including compostable liners used to hold food waste, can be collected with the food waste stream.
That creates a real difference between two products that sound similar:
A compostable food waste liner: a liner used to contain food waste inside a caddy or food waste bin. This can be collected with food waste.
Compostable food packaging: takeaway boxes, cups, containers or other items labelled compostable. These shouldn't automatically go into the food waste bin just because they're compostable, they have different disposal routes.
Both products may be described as "compostable", but they play very different roles in the waste system. This is one of the most important distinctions for any business introducing separate food waste collection.
Always check the acceptance requirements of your own waste collector before introducing a particular liner or changing your waste arrangements.
Can Compostable Packaging Go in Food Waste?
Generally, no, not simply because it's labelled compostable.
The workplace guidance specifically states that packaging labelled "compostable" or "biodegradable" cannot be recycled with food waste, and the government also lists compostable and biodegradable plastic packaging among the materials not collected in the dry recycling stream.
This trips a lot of businesses up. A takeaway customer might reasonably assume that if the container is compostable, it must belong with the food waste. But the waste system doesn't work that way: a material being technically compostable doesn't mean a particular food waste collection service is set up to process it.
So if your business uses compostable takeaway packaging, don't assume it should go into your food waste collection. Speak to your waste collector about the correct disposal route, and avoid putting a generic "compostable" label on a bin sign without explaining exactly what's accepted.
A common source of confusion for businesses
A common point of confusion we come across is the difference between a compostable food waste liner and compostable food packaging. Both products carry the word "compostable", but that doesn't mean they follow the same collection route.
A compostable liner designed to hold food waste has a specific role within a food waste collection system. A compostable takeaway box, cup or other item is a different product entirely, and shouldn't automatically go into the food waste stream simply because it carries a compostable claim.
This is why we'd encourage businesses to look past the word "compostable" itself when setting up a waste system. What matters is the product's intended use, its specification, and what your waste collector will actually accept.
What should businesses look for when choosing a compostable liner?
We've noticed that businesses sometimes focus on the word "compostable" without checking what certification or specification actually sits behind the claim.
When choosing products for a commercial food waste system, it's worth looking past the marketing description and checking the product specification itself. Depending on the product and how it's used, that can mean checking relevant certification such as EN 13432, alongside the manufacturer's stated specifications.
Certification alone doesn't guarantee a product will be accepted by every waste collector, so businesses should still confirm the requirements of their own collection service before introducing a particular liner.
In practice, that means weighing up three things together:
What the liner is actually designed for
What its product specification and relevant certification demonstrate
Whether your waste collector accepts it within the food waste stream
Looking at all three helps you avoid choosing a product on the strength of the word "compostable" alone, and makes sure the liner actually fits your business's waste management system.
How to Set Up Food Waste Collection in a Café, Restaurant or Small Business
Introducing food waste collection is easier if you treat it as a workflow rather than just another bin to buy.
1. Identify where food waste is generated
Walk through the business during a normal working day and look at food preparation, customer dining, staff areas, coffee stations, kitchens, delivery areas and back of house cleaning. Wherever food waste is consistently generated is a potential spot for a small internal bin.
2. Choose the right internal bin size
A small café might only need a compact caddy at the preparation area. A larger restaurant may need several internal bins before waste reaches the main collection container. The right size depends on staff numbers, customer volume, food preparation volume, opening hours, collection frequency and available storage space.
A bin that's too small means constant emptying. One that's too large can mean food waste sitting around longer than it should.
3. Choose a suitable liner
If you use liners, make sure the liner is designed for the size and type of caddy or bin. Consider capacity, dimensions, fit, strength, moisture resistance, how often the bin gets emptied, and whether your waste collector accepts the liner.
Getting the size right matters more than it might seem. A liner that's too small can pull away from the rim once filled; one that's too large is awkward to handle and wastes material.
A liner's stated capacity isn't the whole story
One thing we've noticed when helping businesses choose food waste liners is that capacity isn't the only consideration. A 10 litre liner, for example, isn't automatically suitable for every 10 litre caddy.
The liner's dimensions, and how it sits around the rim, can make a real difference in day-to-day use. A liner with the right capacity on paper can still be a poor fit if it pulls away from the rim when filled or is difficult to secure properly.
For businesses, it's worth checking a liner's actual dimensions alongside its stated capacity. The right fit makes food waste collection easier to manage, particularly in busy kitchens where caddies are emptied frequently.
4. Establish your external collection system
Your waste collector should advise on container size, collection frequency, storage, access, accepted materials and contamination requirements. You can use a private waste company, your local authority, or both, and you're free to use multiple providers where it makes sense.
5. Make the bins obvious
People separate waste correctly far more often when the correct option is immediately obvious. Use clear labels, simple examples, pictures where useful, consistent bin locations and instructions at eye level.
6. Train staff
A five minute explanation at the start of a shift can prevent a surprising amount of contamination. Staff should know what goes in food waste, what goes in dry recycling, what goes in residual waste, and what happens to compostable packaging. That last point matters most, because "compostable" doesn't automatically mean "food waste".
How Often Should Business Food Waste Be Collected?
The right collection frequency depends on how much food waste your business produces and how you store it in the meantime.
Government guidance recommends weekly or fortnightly food waste collection and advises against storing food waste for more than two weeks. A busy restaurant may need collections far more often than that.
A useful rule of thumb: your collection frequency should reflect your actual waste generation, not just the maximum interval available. A café producing a small amount of food waste may manage fine with a smaller caddy and less frequent collection; a restaurant serving hundreds of meals a day will need more capacity and more frequent collections. Talk to your waste collector about the volumes you actually produce.
How Can Businesses Reduce Recycling Contamination?
Contamination happens when the wrong material ends up in a recycling stream, or when recyclable material is too contaminated to be practically recycled.
For a food business, common culprits include food waste in dry recycling, plastic packaging in food waste, compostable packaging in food waste, general waste in recycling, food or liquid residue on recyclable packaging, disposable gloves or wipes in recycling, and cutlery in recycling.
The government recommends clear instructions and signage, and suggests monitoring recurring contamination and adjusting bin locations, signage or bin numbers where needed. A simple approach: make the correct action easier than the wrong one. If a food waste bin is tucked away at the back of the kitchen while the general waste bin sits right beside the prep area, people will naturally reach for the convenient option. Good waste segregation starts with good system design.
What Happens if Recycling is Contaminated?
Businesses should discuss significant contamination with their waste collector. Collectors often build contractual terms allowing them to refuse highly contaminated recycling or charge additional fees, since contaminated material may need to be treated as non-recyclable waste. Contamination isn't just an environmental problem; it can become an operational and financial one too.
If contamination keeps happening, check where the bin is located, whether the signage is clear, whether there are enough bins, whether staff understand the system, whether customers are getting clear instructions, and whether the wrong materials are being presented as recyclable in the first place.
Do Businesses Need a Separate Bin for Every Recyclable Material?
Not necessarily, and this is one area where businesses can end up overcomplicating things. The legislation requires the relevant waste streams to be separated, but the exact collection arrangement can vary. A waste collector might provide a dry mixed recycling service for several materials while collecting food waste and glass separately.
Government guidance says businesses should separate dry recyclable waste based on their collector's instructions, so don't assume compliance means a separate bin beside every other bin. Speak to your collector first, then build your internal system around the arrangement, which can save space, money and staff confusion.
What Does Simpler Recycling Mean for Cafés and Restaurants?
For hospitality businesses, Simpler Recycling tends to be particularly visible, since food waste is generated throughout the operation.
A café might produce coffee grounds, tea bags, pastry waste, food preparation scraps, customer leftovers and spoiled ingredients. A restaurant will have all of that plus kitchen preparation waste, plate scrapings, bones, vegetable preparation waste and larger volumes of food waste generally.
A practical café system could look something like:
Food preparation → small food caddy → larger food waste container → separate collection
Dry recyclable packaging → recycling bin → appropriate recycling collection
Non-recyclable material → residual waste
The precise configuration depends on the business and its waste collector.
What Does Simpler Recycling Mean for Offices?
It's easy for an office to assume food waste isn't relevant because there's no kitchen. That's not the case: the workplace guidance requires food waste to be collected even where a workplace doesn't serve food or have a kitchen, regardless of how little is produced.
For an office, food waste might just mean tea bags, coffee grounds, banana skins, apple cores, leftover lunches and food packaging containing residual food. A small food waste caddy in a staff kitchen or break area is often a simple place to start. If employees eat at their desks, a clearly labelled food waste option nearby can help too.
What About Food Packaging?
Food packaging can make waste segregation confusing fast. Take a typical takeaway meal: food, a compostable container, a paper napkin, a plastic sauce pot and a drink bottle. Each of these items can follow a different disposal route.
The food itself belongs in the food waste stream. The packaging doesn't automatically follow it. The government specifically excludes compostable and biodegradable plastic packaging from both the food waste stream and dry recycling. Other packaging may be recyclable depending on the material and your collector's arrangements.
This is why waste decisions shouldn't be based solely on words like "eco", "biodegradable" or "compostable". The material and the collection system both matter.
How Much Will Simpler Recycling Cost a Business?
There's no single price tag for Simpler Recycling. Your cost depends on the amount of waste you produce, how much residual waste remains, container sizes, collection frequency, location, your existing waste contract, whether you need additional containers, whether you require separate glass collection, and how contaminated your recycling tends to be.
Businesses remain responsible for arranging and paying for their own waste management services. But there's another side to the cost question worth considering: separating waste can reduce the volume going into residual waste. If a large share of your recyclable and food waste currently ends up in general waste, changing the system could change both your collection requirements and your costs.
So the right question isn't "how many more bins do I need?" It's "how do I separate the waste streams I actually produce as efficiently as possible?"
How Do I Choose a Waste Collector?
Your waste collector is central to getting compliance right. When reviewing your arrangements, ask which waste streams they collect, how each material should be presented, what container sizes are available, how often food waste can be collected, what happens if recycling is contaminated, which compostable liners they accept, how compostable packaging should be disposed of, whether contamination carries additional charges, whether collections can flex during busy periods, and whether your carrier is properly registered.
The government says businesses should confirm their waste collector is registered on the Public Register of Waste Carriers, Brokers and Dealers. You can also use multiple waste providers where that suits your business, for example one arrangement for general commercial waste and another for a specialist stream.
What Happens if a Business Doesn't Comply?
Simpler Recycling isn't a voluntary sustainability initiative; there's a legal requirement for workplaces to manage waste appropriately. A business that doesn't comply may receive a compliance notice from the Environment Agency, and failing to comply with that notice is an offence that can lead to enforcement action.
The Environment Agency has also introduced a charging scheme for regulatory work relating to Simpler Recycling non-compliance. From 3 February 2026, the rate for relevant chargeable regulatory work is £118 per hour, which is one more reason not to leave preparation until the last minute.
For micro firms, 31 March 2027 might look a long way off, but changing waste contracts, ordering equipment, training staff and building new habits all take time.
What Should a Small Business Do Before 31 March 2027?
If you run a micro business and haven't changed your waste arrangements yet, now's a good time to start.
Step 1: Confirm your FTE position. Work out total FTE employees across the business, remembering the calculation applies to the whole business rather than a single site.
Step 2: Audit your current waste. Over a few normal working days, look at what actually goes into your bins rather than relying on assumptions. Check for food, cardboard, paper, plastic, metal, glass, general waste and compostable packaging. You may be surprised how much recyclable or food waste is currently going into residual waste.
Step 3: Talk to your waste collector. Ask exactly what they collect and how they want it presented, especially for compostable products.
Step 4: Decide where internal bins are needed. Put bins where waste is actually generated, not somewhere staff have to walk across the building to reach.
Step 5: Choose appropriate food waste liners. If you use liners, pick a size that fits your caddies and confirm your collector accepts compostable liners in the food waste stream.
Step 6: Label everything. Keep instructions simple and specific, for example:
FOOD WASTE Food leftovers Fruit & vegetable peelings Coffee grounds Tea bags
Then separately explain what doesn't belong there.
Step 7: Train staff. Explain the system before you introduce it, not after.
Step 8: Monitor the first few weeks. Look inside the bins. If contamination is showing up, don't jump straight to blaming staff: check whether the bin's in the wrong place, the sign's unclear, another bin's too close by, customers are confused, or the correct waste stream simply isn't available when people need it. Then adjust.
A Practical Simpler Recycling Checklist for Businesses
Use this to check your current position:
Confirm whether your business is already in scope
Calculate your total FTE employees
Identify every type of waste your business produces
Check your current waste contract
Confirm which materials your collector accepts
Arrange separate food waste collection
Arrange dry recycling
Keep residual waste separate
Check whether glass needs a separate container
Identify where food waste is generated
Put food waste bins in appropriate locations
Choose suitable food waste liners if required
Confirm your liner is accepted by your collector
Label all bins clearly
Train staff
Provide suitable bins for customers or visitors where appropriate
Monitor contamination
Adjust bin locations if necessary
Review collection frequency
Make sure your waste collector is appropriately registered
Keep your waste arrangements under review
What Should a Small Café Do Now?
If you're running a small café with fewer than 10 FTE employees, you have until 31 March 2027 to comply with the Simpler Recycling workplace requirements, but there's no need to wait until then.
A simple preparation plan could look like this: check your employee count and confirm your FTE position; look at what percentage of your current general waste bin is actually food, cardboard, cans or other recyclable material; speak to your waste collector about what's available and what they accept; introduce a food waste caddy where preparation actually happens; use a liner that fits properly and is accepted by your collector; make the system obvious with clear signage rather than complicated instructions; train the whole team on what belongs in each bin; and after a couple of weeks, review the results. If the food waste bin is clean and residual waste has dropped, you're heading in the right direction.
Common Simpler Recycling Mistakes Businesses Should Avoid
Assuming "compostable" means "food waste". It doesn't. Compostable packaging and compostable food waste liners aren't treated the same way under the workplace guidance.
Treating the 10 employee threshold as a site-by-site calculation. For multisite businesses, FTE is calculated across the business as a whole.
Putting food waste in general waste because there isn't much of it. The requirement applies regardless of how little food waste a workplace produces.
Adding lots of bins without a plan. More bins don't automatically mean better recycling. The right bin, in the right place, with clear instructions, beats a row of confusing containers every time.
Assuming all waste collectors accept the same materials. Collection arrangements differ, so always check your own collector's requirements.
Waiting until the deadline. Changing waste collection arrangements takes time for a small business. Starting early leaves room to test the system and fix problems before they become urgent.
Frequently Asked Questions About Simpler Recycling for Businesses
What is Simpler Recycling for businesses?
Simpler Recycling is the framework for changing waste and recycling arrangements in England. Businesses and other relevant workplaces must separate dry recyclable waste, food waste and residual waste before collection.
When did Simpler Recycling start for businesses?
The workplace requirements came into force on 31 March 2025 for businesses and relevant non-domestic premises covered by the rules. Micro-firms with fewer than 10 FTE employees have until 31 March 2027.
Do businesses with fewer than 10 employees need to comply?
Micro-firms with fewer than 10 FTE employees have a temporary exemption until 31 March 2027, after which they'll need to comply with the requirements.
Does the 10 employee threshold apply to each business location?
No. The FTE calculation applies to the business as a whole rather than each individual site.
Do cafés have to follow Simpler Recycling?
Yes. Hospitality businesses including cafés, restaurants, pubs, takeaways and hotels are covered by the requirements.
Does a business have to separate food waste?
Yes. Businesses within scope must separate food waste from dry recyclables and residual waste, even where only a small amount of food waste is produced.
Can compostable liners go in food waste?
Yes. Government guidance specifically states that caddy liners, including compostable liners, used to hold food waste can be collected with food waste. Always check your own waste collector's requirements.
Can compostable packaging go in food waste?
Not simply because it's compostable. Workplace guidance states that packaging labelled compostable or biodegradable cannot be recycled with food waste, so businesses should follow their waste collector's instructions for disposal.
Do I need a separate bin for paper, plastic, metal and glass?
Not necessarily. Your waste collector will determine the appropriate collection arrangement, and some materials may be collected together where permitted.
How often should food waste be collected?
Government guidance recommends weekly or fortnightly collection and advises against storing food waste for more than two weeks, though your business may need more frequent collections depending on volume.
Can a business use a private waste collector?
Yes. You can use a private waste company, your local authority, or both, and multiple providers where appropriate, provided your waste carrier is registered on the relevant public register.
What happens if my business doesn't comply?
A non-compliant business may receive a compliance notice from the Environment Agency. Failing to comply with that notice is an offence, and enforcement action may follow.
Where to Start
Simpler Recycling is already changing how businesses in England manage their waste. For businesses with 10 or more FTE employees, the requirements are already in force; for micro firms, the next major deadline is 31 March 2027.
The practical solution isn't simply buying more bins. Start by understanding what your business actually throws away. Separate food waste, dry recyclables and residual waste, work with your waste collector to set up the right collection arrangements, and make it easy for staff and customers to use the system correctly.
For food businesses especially, getting food waste separation right makes a real difference: place food bins where food waste is generated, use an appropriately sized liner, make the distinction between food waste and compostable packaging clear, and keep an eye on contamination once the system is running.
One distinction is worth holding onto above all the others: a compostable food waste liner can be collected with food waste. Compostable packaging can't automatically go into the food waste stream just because it's compostable.
If you're preparing your business for Simpler Recycling, the best time to review your waste system is before the deadline arrives, while there's still time to test what works, train your team, and fix problems before compliance becomes urgent.
