The 31 March 2025 is an important date for every business in England with ten or more full-time employees. This is when the first stage of the new Simpler Recycling regulations comes into force. Your current waste provider should contact you to help prepare for these changes, but it’s your responsibility to make sure you’re ready.

From the end of March 2025, you must have separate collections of food waste, paper and cardboard recycling, and other dry recyclables (glass, plastic, and metal) in place. This is to avoid businesses throwing away recyclable and recoverable rubbish with general waste that may go to landfills or for incineration.

Check your current bins, waste collections, and the waste types your organisation generates to see if you need any extra bins. It’s a good idea to get them in places ASAP so you’re prepared to meet the new regulations. Failure to comply with the new Simpler Recycling legislation could lead to penalties and potential fines.

Workers are the people in contact with waste and responsible for placing it in the appropriate bins. Spending time educating them about the proper processes to follow is essential to reduce waste, improve recycling rates, and comply with all relevant regulations. Run training and refresher sessions to ensure everyone is up to speed.

It’s essential that staff are trained to identify different waste types when hazardous and clinical waste types are present. This should ensure they’re handled safely and placed in the correct bins, bags, or containers for storage and disposal. Understanding recycling symbols is important for recyclable rubbish too, so appropriate packaging and plastics are recycled.

Explain the importance of the new Simpler Recycling regulations and complying with them to get your staff up to speed with changes. Incorporating waste management training into inductions and holding regular updates can help improve your recycling rates and reduce the risk of accidents this year for smoother working.

Find ways to reuse waste your business creates in the new year. Rather than throwing things out once they’re used, think about how to repurpose them. A few ideas to reuse waste in your organisation include to:

• Use cardboard delivery boxes for storage in an office or any business
• Put a tealight into empty wine bottles for atmospheric decorations
• Turn old textiles into cleaning cloths for work surfaces
• Create a compost pile or box for food scraps
• Make signs from old bits of wood (to direct towards your recycling station)

Repairing broken items is another great way to cut down on your company’s waste. If something breaks don’t just chuck it out, consider whether it’s repairable. Paying an expert to fix broken electricals, furniture, or other tools might even be cheaper than buying a replacement. And it avoids creating more waste.

Putting these steps into action should help your business be more sustainable and save money on your waste management costs in the new year. If you’ve got a question or want a free no-obligation quote for any type of waste collections then get in touch with the Divert team today – call 0333 444 0118 or contact us online.

It’s estimated that households and businesses create an additional three million tonnes of waste at Christmas. That’s on top of all the regular rubbish we produce from running companies and living our daily lives. Your business should first forecast how much more waste it will generate over the festive period.

This could be more food waste from Christmas lunches and treats in an office, extra glass wine and beer bottles from restaurants and bars, or cards and decorations when the festivities are finished. Restaurants, bars, and shops especially are likely to create extra waste and can use previous experiences to predict increases in volumes.

Use the estimates of additional festive waste to arrange bigger or more bins, or to increase collection frequencies over Christmas. This should ensure you can store all the extra rubbish your business produces and that it’s managed efficiently. It avoids any overflowing bins or waste piling up on site that could otherwise cause a problem.

Sadly, more than 100 million sacks of rubbish end up in landfills every Christmas. Lots of this comes from households but businesses also create mountains more waste during the festive season. To save money and help the environment companies of all sizes and industries can play their part to cut down on waste levels at Christmas.

A few ways to reduce Christmas waste for any business are to:

• Plan accurately – it’s easy to get excited and carried away planning workplace Christmas decorations, parties, and other celebrations that lead to lots of avoidable waste. Estimate the numbers and amounts of food, decorations, and items you’ll need closely to minimise waste, leftovers, and costs.
• Give zero-waste gifts – cut down on waste when giving gifts to clients and staff with items that come in recyclable and minimal packaging. There are all sorts of low-waste Christmas gift options available, such as tickets to shows, sporting, and music events or sustainable food and clothing items.
• Arrange sustainable disposal – creating waste is inevitable at Christmas but avoid sending any of it to landfills. Choose sustainable disposal methods like composting for food waste and Christmas trees.
• Donate items – offer any unwanted items and things your business can’t reuse to charities and community groups. This could be Christmas decorations you don’t have space to store, old electronics that have been upgraded and replaced, or even food.
• Recycle rubbish – many businesses generate extra packaging waste over the holiday season. Much of this is recyclable such as glass, paper, cardboard, and plastics. Use separate bins to reduce contamination risks and ensure as much as possible is recycled.

Enjoy smooth and stress-free management of your commercial waste at Christmas with Divert. We can provide free bins for your business with no delivery or hire fees – you only pay for collections. Choose from a wide range of sizes to separate and store all the waste materials you produce.

We divert all rubbish away from landfill for a sustainable solution, as our name suggests. Bespoke waste services mean we can provide extra bins and adapt pickups to suit your busy festive period. Great communication and customer care ensure everything goes to plan when it comes to managing your waste at Christmas.

Call 0333 444 0118 or contact us online today for your free quote and to find out more about how we can help your business manage its waste this Christmas.

A bin store is a unit designed to keep bins in when they’re not in use. It’s a structure that’s normally made from wood, bricks, or other materials and has a roof and gate, so the bins are secure. Many homes have an outside bin store but they’re useful for businesses as well.

Most bin stores are often an outdoor unit but some large premises like warehouses and supermarkets might have one inside. Bin store designs vary depending on the materials they’re made from, the available space, and the size and number of bins that will go in it.

The best bin store design for your business will be based on your facilities and waste management needs. Building a bin store from scratch (or paying an expert to do it) should mean you get a structure that’s efficient and protects your bins properly. Good planning is important for the best results.

When coming up with your bin store plans there are a few design factors to consider before you start the build:

• Space – measuring the available floor space helps determine if there’s enough room to fit your bins in and determine the amount of materials you’ll need.
• Roof – whether you want a roof or not will impact the bin store design, and any additional materials required.
• Materials – common materials for making a bin store are wood or brick. You’ll need to decide this to source appropriate materials before you start.
• Bin sizes – consider the sizes and number of bins you use as well as whether you’ll need bigger and more bins in the future.
• Access – as well as having enough space you should ensure there’s easy access and the ground around it is smooth enough to wheel bins in and out.

The new food waste legislation in the UK for 2025 is part of Defra’s simpler recycling plans. It aims to help eliminate sending waste food to landfill from commercial organisations. This food waste regulation applies to all non-municipal premises in England – which includes businesses, the public sector, and third-sector organisations.

The legal regulation that will enforce the changes to commercial food waste management is the Environment Act 2021 (Commencement No. 9 and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2024. It makes mandatory food waste separation a legal requirement for businesses that produce more than 5kg of waste food per week.

This means diverting food away from general waste streams to ensure it’s disposed of via anaerobic digestion, composting, and other more sustainable methods, rather than rotting in landfills. It’s hoped these legal changes will benefit the environment by ensuring food waste is used to create the likes of renewable energy and liquid fertiliser.

As part of Defra’s simpler recycling scheme, all households in England should have weekly food waste collections by 31 March 2026. Arranging this is the responsibility of local councils and authorities. Most homes will likely receive a small bin, box, or container for waste food to separate it from their general waste.

Net zero is a balance of greenhouse gases. The amount of greenhouse gases produced must be equal to or less than that removed from the atmosphere to achieve net zero. Reducing and offsetting carbon emissions are common strategies used to work towards achieving net zero within many organisations.

The UK government aims to achieve net zero by 2050. This means that the country’s greenhouse gas emissions will have reduced by 100% compared to the levels in 1990. To achieve net zero the greenhouse gases the UK produces must be equal to or less than those removed from the environment.

Many businesses are setting their own net zero goals. This is to help combat climate change, improve their environmental impact, and save money. There are various strategies businesses use in an effort to reach net zero status – from planting trees to recycling more and adapting processes to operate more sustainably.

Start by creating a net zero plan for your business that makes it a company policy for everyone to follow. Conduct an audit or enlist the help of professionals to identify where you can cut down on carbon emissions and realistic targets to put in place. There are various things your organisation can then do to try and achieve net zero:

• Improve energy efficiency – reducing energy use can have a big environmental and financial impact with just a few small changes. Switch to LED lights in offices, minimise business travel, and set low but comfortable temperatures (not too high).
• Reduce waste – creating less waste means less goes to landfill, which is a significant cause of greenhouse gas emissions. Assess your waste production and look for ways you can cut back or reuse any waste materials.
• Use renewable energy – find renewable energy sources such as solar, wind, or hydropower to run your company. You could even look into installing solar panels on your site if appropriate.
• Recycle and recover waste – recycling paper, cardboard, glass, plastic, metals, and other materials to avoid them going to landfill. It saves resources and energy required to source new materials, which can produce carbon emissions too.
• Partner with sustainable suppliers – put together a green supply chain and work with suppliers who have their own net zero goals. It could be by using recyclable packaging or electric vehicles in their fleets, for example.
• Review, report, and improve – regularly assess your net zero plan and how close you are to achieving your goals. Adapt the plan and your practices where necessary to stay on track.

The first stage of the 5 Rs of waste management is to refuse materials, items, and products that create avoidable waste. A prime example is refusing single-use plastics and seeking reusable or biodegradable alternatives. This is because most single-use plastics create waste quickly and end up rotting in landfill.

Refusing non-recyclable products such as packaging is another key consideration at this stage. Switch to suppliers that use recyclable or reusable packaging such as paper and cardboard instead of certain types of plastic that are challenging to recycle. Some suppliers may offer returnable packaging and containers, which eliminates potential waste.

Audit everything that comes into your business and work out what types and volumes of waste it all generates. Then think about what’s necessary and what could be cut out (or alternatives that will produce less waste or materials that can be reused or recycled). Refusing to create waste is a great start.

Finding ways to reuse items that would otherwise become waste is the third step. Certain materials such as glass bottles and jars can be cleaned and reused quite easily. Not all waste is reusable though – the likes of clinical waste must be incinerated for legal and safety reasons.

Some common items you can reuse in businesses to avoid creating waste include:

• Ink cartridges – offices can refill ink cartridges rather than replacing them, which avoids plastic waste and saves money.
• Batteries – switch to rechargeable batteries for use in battery-powered devices to avoid creating battery waste.
• Cutlery and cups – provide metal cutlery, mugs, and glasses in office kitchens for reuse and to discourage buying disposable coffee cups.
• Cardboard boxes – reuse delivery boxes for storage, whether it’s for files or products. You can also reuse to send out your own items.
• Containers – wash and dry food containers made from glass, plastic, and metal and reuse to store dry goods.

The final step of the 5 Rs of waste management is to recycle waste. If there’s no way to reduce, reuse, or repurpose waste then it should be recycled where possible. For any businesses that only produce small amounts of waste a dry mixed recycling bin might suffice. Otherwise you should separate and recycle waste by their materials:

• Glass recycling
• Paper recycling
• Cardboard recycling
• Plastic recycling
• Metal recycling

At Divert we ensure all waste is recycled and kept away from landfill. We provide free bins to help companies recycle with no bin hire or delivery fees – you only pay for collection. Call 0333 444 0118 or contact us online today for a free quote for recycling collections from your business anywhere across Yorkshire.

Meat waste and any bones, fat, and animal parts not for sale are the main thing you might think of as butchers waste. There are other types of rubbish generated by butchers each day too though, like the packaging used for products. Separating and storing waste streams is vital to ensure everything is disposed of properly.

These are common types of butcher waste:

• Meat waste – meat trimmings, cuts, organs, fat, offal, and any spoiled or unsellable pieces of meat.
• Packaging waste – plastic wrap, cardboard boxes, glass bottles and jars, metal cans, plastic bottles, all used to store and transport ingredients and goods.
• Hazardous waste – anything contaminated with blood and the likes of diseased tissues and organs that pose a health risk.
• General waste – daily waste such as used paper towels, cleaning materials, and non-recyclable packaging.
• Sharps waste – damaged and broken knives, syringes, and any other sharp objects used in the butcher’s shop.
• Textile and equipment waste – miscellaneous waste such as old aprons, broken chopping boards, and any other equipment.

The amount of waste your butcher’s shop produces can depend on its size and offerings. There should be various things you can do to cut back on how much you create though. Consider the following steps to reduce your butcher’s waste and manage it responsibly.

Eliminating all waste from a butcher’s shop is impossible, but you can work to ensure it’s disposed of responsibly and diverted away from landfill. You should never throw away any meat with general waste, as it could contaminate the load and end up rotting in landfill. There are more sustainable solutions.

Responsible options for butchers waste disposal for meat, food, and organic waste include:

• Anaerobic digestion – this natural process breaks down organic waste to produce biogas, which can be used to generate energy, and biofertilizers. Specialist anaerobic digestion plants can process waste meat, food, and other organic materials.
• Composting – industrial composting is an option for waste meat and fat as it breaks down naturally. This is a natural recycling method that creates a fertilizer for enriching soil.
• Rendering – this is a safe process often used for meat waste and bones that are ground down and reused in various other ways.

Wishcycling is when you put a piece of rubbish in a recycling bin and hope it will be recycled without checking if it will. This could be chucking a greasy pizza box in your household recycling bin or throwing away a glass milk bottle in a dry mixed recycling bin at work without checking if it’s accepted.

Believing you can recycle an item without making sure may put your mind at ease that the product is recycled, but in reality, it may end up in landfill or be incinerated. These are worse for the environment than recycling, so disposing of items in the proper recycling channels rather than throwing them away in hope is vital.

Wishcycling can cause contamination as well. If some kind of packaging is put in a recycling bin with food remnants on or in it, these can slide off and contaminate other bits of recycling. It may mean many bits of recyclable rubbish end up in landfill or incineration rather than being recycled.

Taking care when you recycle any item within your business or at home helps falling into the wishcycling trap. Follow these steps to ensure you’re recycling and not wishcycling:

• Clean and dry items – bits of food and other residue can damage recycling machinery and reduce the quality of material, so wash, rinse, and dry waste before recycling.
• Check the labels – most packaging has at least one recycling symbol on it but double-check that it correlates with the type of recycling accepted in the bin you’re using.
• Separate single items – to save space it may be tempting to put recyclable materials inside one recyclable container. This can cause problems during processing though, so it’s best to separate items.
• Use different recycling bins – your business should have separate bins for glass recycling, but if you produce high volumes of cardboard, paper, plastic, and metals it might be worth having individual bins for each waste stream rather than using one dry mixed recycling bin.
• Train your team – explain to your employees how and where to recycle all the common items produced in your business. Cover what wishcycling is and the negative impact it can have on the environment and for your business to ensure waste is recycled properly.

Ensure your business is recycling and not wishcycling with the correct bins to separate recyclable rubbish. Save money with free bins for all types of recycling your company creates. There are no bin hire charges or delivery fees – you only pay for collection.

Get a free no-obligation quote for recycling waste collections across Yorkshire with Divert today. Call 0333 444 0118 or contact us online for your bespoke price. We can remove and recycle glass, paper, cardboard, and plastic, as well as dry mixed recycling.

The most important thing to check is that the waste management company can collect and dispose of all waste types you produce. Pretty much every waste collector offers services for general waste, glass recycling, paper waste, cardboard recycling, plastic waste, and food waste. If you create a specialist waste stream then you may need to look around.

Clinical waste and hazardous waste types require specific bins, management, and disposal processes, for example. There are also many different types of metal (ferrous and non-ferrous), so you need to ensure any waste management company has the resources and facilities to remove and recycle all waste materials you produce.

Even if you currently only need general waste and dry mixed recycling collections, it’s worth thinking about the future. Should you have plans to expand your business you might need additional waste streams collected. Choosing a partner that offers relevant services may save time, money, and effort in the coming years.

You’ll need to ensure that the waste management company can deal with the amount of waste your business generates too. This includes being provided with bin sizes and containers that accommodate the volume of each rubbish stream you produce. If you produce lots of paper waste this could mean requiring a baler, for example.

Regular collection frequencies that suit your schedule and avoid waste piling up and bins overflowing are also vital. Restaurants, hotels, and cafes may want daily food waste collections to avoid bad smells and unhygienic conditions developing. Check the waste collector can handle your waste capacity, volume, and frequency demands.

You’re legally responsible for ensuring all commercial waste your organisation produces is stored, removed, and disposed of legally. Failure to manage your commercial waste legally could lead to large fines, suspension of business, and possibly prison time. It’s vital you choose to work with a legally compliant waste collection company.

There are three main things to check:

• Are they registered waste carriers? You can check on the UK government website
• Is it a legitimate business? You can check this on the Companies House website
• Will you receive a duty of care certificate or waste transfer note?

You should receive a duty of care certificate or waste transfer note that shows who removed your waste, and where and how it was disposed of. Some waste management companies may charge for these but at Divert we provide a free duty of care certificate.

Working with a local waste collection company is often best for independent, smaller businesses, and those located in the same town, city, or region. They should know the area well, which helps them offer an effective and cost-efficient service due to their knowledge of recycling facilities and transport routes.

National waste management companies may suit bigger businesses and those with locations in various parts of the country. It depends on your size, but using a local waste management company normally provides you with more personal service and supports the local economy.

The main aspect you’ll probably look at is how much the waste collection will cost. Request a free quote based on your needs and shop around to find a cost-effective option that fits in with your budget and is a fair price for the services you require.

If you get a quote that’s significantly lower than the rest it could be too good to be true. Double-check what the quote includes, how long the contract is, and that everything you need is covered. At Divert we can provide a free no no-obligation quote tailored to your needs.

Get a free quote for waste collections of any type and amount today – contact us online or call 0333 444 0118. We divert all waste away from landfill and provide free bins – you only pay for collection.

The main change for households under the simpler recycling regulations is that it should remove the postcode lottery for bin collections. This means that eventually, all homes in England should be able to recycle the same materials in their domestic recycling bins, wherever they are in the country.

Most households in England (including flats) will have four default containers (which could be bins, bags, or stackable boxes) for:

• General waste (residual non-recyclable waste)
• Food waste (mixed with garden waste if appropriate)
• Paper and cardboard recycling
• Other dry recyclable materials (plastic, metal, and glass)

There will not be seven bins per household as once mentioned. Local authorities will have flexibility to deliver the changes under the simpler recycling scheme in the most appropriate way for their area. The changes are to help improve domestic recycling rates in England that have started to stagnate.

General waste bin collections will continue at least once a fortnight, while charges may apply for garden waste collections, depending on the local authority. Local authorities must collect core recyclable waste streams and introduce weekly food waste collections from households by 31 March 2026.

The deadline for local authorities to provide domestic food waste and the expanded recycling collections in England is the end of March 2026. However, some councils are already making changes to their bin collections in preparation for the new simpler recycling rules.

In Leeds, homes will be able to recycle glass bottles and jars in their domestic green bins from the 1^st of August 2024. This should hopefully significantly reduce half of all glass bottles and jars that are thrown away in domestic general waste bins in Leeds that are then incinerated.

The City of York Council is also introducing a green bin charging scheme for domestic garden waste from the 8^th of August 2024. Around 66,000 properties across the city receive green bin collections for garden waste and should receive information packs about the charges and changes. Collections of black bins and recycling boxes remain free and unchanged.

Councils and local authorities across England are changing their bin collections at different stages to prepare for the simpler recycling timeline. There are three main deadlines that businesses and households must meet. These are the key simpler recycling dates for homes and businesses in England:

• 31 March 2025 – businesses with ten or more full-time employees and relevant non-domestic properties must arrange separate collections of food waste, paper and cardboard recycling, and other dry recyclables (glass, plastic, and metal). Garden waste is exempt at this stage.
• 31 March 2026 – local authorities must provide weekly food waste collections from all households in their area (unless a transitional arrangement is in place) as well as collections of core recycling (paper and cardboard, other dry recyclables).
• 31 March 2027 – micro-firms (companies with fewer than 10 employees) must meet the new simpler recycling scheme. Plastic film will also be collected as part of plastic recycling from homes and businesses.

Summer’s general election in the UK saw a change in government. Steve Reed was appointed Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs on 5^th July 2024. The new government published a simpler recycling policy update on 29^th November 2024, which you can read in full online.