February 5, 2025
We are a registered waste carrier and fully licensed by the Environmental Agency no: CBDU181868
In March 2025, new recycling laws will come into effect in England that will affect the way that business waste is managed. As a business owner, you need to know if the laws will affect your company, and what steps you need to take to make sure you are compliant with all elements of the new legislation concerning commercial waste disposal.
Why we need new legislation
Every year, the UK generates 9.5 million tonnes of food waste and most ends up a landfill belching out greenhouse gasses. Similarly, much of the recyclable waste is disposed of incorrectly in landfills, which means valuable resources are wasted and are causing harm to the environment. The new Food Waste in the UK Report (April, 2024), is designed to ensure businesses separate recyclable and food waste, in order to operate more sustainability.
Interestingly, at the moment there are no waste reduction targets for food, but this is also about to change, with the help of voluntary organisations such as the Courtauld Commitment 2030 (transforming the food system), has proposed measures to reduce food waste by 50 per cent per person by 2030.
What is the new legislation?
Under this legislation, The environment Act 2021, (Commencement 9 and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 1024, will bring the management of food waste in line with the governments recycling practices outlined in the Environment Act 2021, thereby making the separation of all recycling and food waste a legal obligation for businesses.
The law will apply to ‘relevant non-domestic premises located in the area of an English waste collection authority’. This means that if you have 10 or more employees and generate over 5 kgs of food waste (per week) your business will be affected by the new legislation. The law is wide reaching, including businesses as diverse as restaurants and pubs, to offices and hospitals.
Deadline: 31st March 2025
All biodegradable food waste and the related products (such as glass, cans, foil etc.) must be separated into food waste and dry waste recycling, which should again be separate from general waste. The deadline to implement a compliant waste management and recycling plan must be in place by the end of March 2025.
What are your obligations?
In simple terms, if your company falls under the remit of this law (due to size of staff and the amount of waste produced), you will need to prepare and separate the following items to avoid contamination and increase their recycling potential. After which, to ensure the recycling process is followed to the letter, a legally registered commercial waste service will need to be contracted to manage the removal, disposal and recycling.
· Food waste
· Paper and cardboard
· Cartons (including packaging for food and drink)
· Plastic (including food containers and water bottles)
· Glass bottles and jars must be rinsed.
· Metal: including food and drink cans, aluminium foil and baking trays, aerosol cans
How to get your business ready for the new recycling laws
Therefore, you need to start putting your plans in place now. Unfortunately, ignorance or being too busy to implement the required changes is no defence under the law. So, we’ve put together a list of handy hints to make sure your business is compliant.
1: Separate waste
We’re all used to the multiple council dustbin situation at home, so it shouldn’t be too difficult for your employees to get into the habit of separating waste at work too. Start separating food and recyclable waste from general waste.
The first step is to identify which types of waste need to be separated, even though it may be obvious to some but others may need to see in black and white what can and can’t be recycled with food waste and what is classified as dry recycling.
Equally important,once you start recycling, you need to arrange for the licenced and regulated waste management company to carry out regular collections. G&S Clearance,Brighton & Hove commercial waste management solutions include this type of service and can provide detailed information about their waste collection,disposal and recycling processes. As this is a legal requirement, you will need to contract the services of a company that can provide the necessary documentation, confirming the correct method of removal and recycling has been followed.
2. Reduce waste
There is one way to make your company’s day to day waste management much easier, and that is to cut the amount of waste. If all of your staff are encouraged to become more mindful about the amount of food they throw out. We are all guilty of over buying, leaving food to spoil or rot and then throwing it out. By exercising more consideration when planning meals and restraint when doing the weekly food shop can cut food waste and save money.
3. Contract a professional waste management company
If you are located in Brighton & Hove of the wider Sussex area, you can get advice about waste disposal compliance by contacting G&S Clearance. Working together, we can ensure your food waste is disposed of correctly and that all recyclables are delivered for processing.
If you would like to discuss a waste management plan to ensure your company is compliant with the new regulations, contact G&S Clearance to request a no-obligation quote for your food waste and recycling. Get in touch by emailing info@gsclearance.com.
Alternatively, if you would like to know more about our full range of waste management services in Brighton and Hove, visit the website www.gsclearance.co.uk/.
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