Many students have a reputation for creating lots of waste and being messy. More than half a million students in the UK live in privately rented houses and flats, while thousands more live in student accommodation. That means lots of rubbish is generated throughout the year, which isn’t always managed properly.

The end of the academic year is a key time when effective student waste management is required. Hundreds of thousands of students across the UK move out to head home or into new accommodation for next year. This is when everything from old pots and pans to furniture, food, duvets, clothes, and many more items are often chucked out.

Improper disposal and management may lead to fly-tipping and other problems. Responsible management of waste that students generate benefits everyone, from local residents and authorities to the environment. Discover how to manage student waste efficiently, whether you’re a student, a private landlord, or run any student accommodation.

Student accommodation needs efficient waste management processes in place, whatever its size and location. This helps maintain hygienic premises, uphold the duty of care of the university or company that owns the accommodation, and benefits the environment. There are unique challenges across different student digs, but you can apply many of the same techniques.

For effective waste management in student accommodation, it’s beneficial to have:

• Appropriate bins – as a minimum, it’s best for all students to have access to general waste, dry mixed recycling, and food waste bins. This enables the separation of materials at the point of production and should ensure as much as possible is recycled, composted, and diverted away from landfill.
• Posters – put up posters that explain the environmental benefits of separating and reducing waste where possible. Many students will want to help the environment, and having posters up next to each bin as well as in shared areas may help boost recycling levels.

The end of the academic year, when many students move out, is prime time for waste production. Ideally, as a student, you’ll just use your bins to separate materials as usual and fill within their limits, then take any excess waste items with you.

If you’ve got too much rubbish, then take it to your local household waste recycling centre (HWRC). Don’t leave rubbish behind, as this is irresponsible. Many items could be donated to a local charity shop, listed for free on sites like Facebook Marketplace, or sold online.

The best ways to get rid of student waste at the end of the year can depend on the item:

• Furniture – if you can’t take any items of furniture with you, then consider donating to a local charity. Alternatively, check with the landlord to see if they’ll let you leave it behind or are happy for you to leave it for the next tenants. If you want to make a bit of money, then you can always try and sell it online.
• Bedding – loads of students chuck out bedding as it’s bulky, but you should avoid putting it in a general waste bin as it may go to landfill or be incinerated. When you really can’t take it with you or if it’s damaged beyond use, donate it to an animal charity that may use it as animal bedding.
• Electronics – any broken TVs, laptops, bedside lamps, toasters, or other electronics should be taken to your nearest HWRC. If you have working electronic items you don’t need, then consider either donating or selling them. You can also return to many electronics shops that should accept and recycle them for you.
• Food – you can donate tinned and dry food items to your local food bank. Anything in the fridge or freezer (or with a short expiry date) you should try to use up or just take with you.
• Books – many students end up with academic books they won’t need next year. Hang onto them and pass them down to anyone in the year below who might need them next year. You can also see if any libraries accept them as donations. Alternatively, put them up for sale online.
• Clothes – should you have a clear-out of clothes when you move out, you can donate to charity shops, sell on sites like Vinted, or take them to a clothes bank. Don’t throw them out with general waste, as clothes and textiles can be reused and recycled.

If you’re a private landlord who lets out one or more properties to students, then the end of the academic year can be a chaotic time. Whatever you do, there’s a good chance student tenants will leave items behind, and you’ll have to get rid of them.

These are a few ways to manage any waste from students efficiently as a landlord:

• Remind your tenants – send out a friendly reminder to your tenants to use the bins and not overfill them, which risks a missed collection. Ask them not to leave behind any items they no longer need, as it’s their responsibility to leave the place as they found it. Remind them that costs incurred to remove extra waste after they’ve gone could be taken off their deposit.
• Plan extra waste collections – speak with your tenants and assess how much extra rubbish they might create. Book an extra collection if required to help students get rid of any waste easily, especially if there are a few of them all leaving at the same time.

An overflowing bin may cause all sorts of problems for your business – whatever type of waste it contains. Rubbish spilling out of a wheelie bin or any other container can create unhygienic conditions, attract pests, and release a nasty smell. This can put off customers and affect your staff as well.

It doesn’t look good for your business to have an overflowing bin sitting outside. It might also not be collected by your waste partner, or you could face additional charges, especially if the bin is also overweight. Any overflowing wheelie bins will have their lids open, which causes more problems.

Any rubbish that spills out risks getting wet and contaminated (which affects the recyclability of paper and cardboard) or blowing away in the wind and littering the environment. Find out how to prevent a bin from overflowing in your business for smooth waste management.

Dealing with overflowing bins isn’t pleasant and it can cost your business money if you have to pay for extra collections or overweight charges. The easiest way to avoid such issues is to prevent an overflowing waste bin in the first place. These are a few ways to prevent your commercial bins from overflowing:

• Conduct a waste audit – assess the types and volume of commercial waste your business produces regularly. Use this information to identify the best number and sizes of bins you need to separate materials and an efficient collection frequency. If you need some expert help contact the Divert team for assistance with an audit.
• Order extra bins – if you find your waste is often close to overflowing then simply add a few more bins to your collections. It might just be one dry mixed recycling bin, or you may need one more for each waste stream.
• Use bigger bins – an efficient and cost-effective way to prevent overflowing bins is to switch to larger containers if you regularly fill yours close to the limit. Check you have enough storage space and consider moving up from a 240 litre to a 360 or 660 litre wheelie bin, for example.

Stay on top of your commercial waste with Divert. We can provide a wide range of free bins to store your rubbish securely and ensure you’ve got enough capacity. There are no delivery or bin hire costs – you only pay for collection.

Combine suitable bin sizes, types, and numbers with a collection frequency that’s cost-effective and efficient. Daily, weekly, and fortnightly collections are possible to reduce the chance of your bins overflowing. We can help with a waste audit and advise on the best options.

Taking commercial waste to the tip (any rubbish your business produces) might seem like a cheap and easy thing to do. Why pay a third party to do it when you could have a go yourself? The strict responsibilities, regulations, and potential penalties are there for a reason.

You might consider taking waste from your business to the local tip to save money, especially if you only create a small amount every day or week. However, it’s not as simple, cost-effective, or as safe as taking domestic rubbish like garden waste to your nearest household waste recycling centre (HWRC).

Discover when and how you can take your commercial waste to the tip, important considerations and limitations, and everything you need to know to make an informed decision.

Technically, you can take business waste to the tip. However, to transport commercial waste you must be a licensed waste carrier. You may also need to apply for a waste permit and check the tip accepts the type and amount of commercial waste you have for disposal.

Most HWRCs are for the disposal of rubbish from homes, as the name suggests, which can’t go in domestic bins. Many don’t accept business or trade waste and could refuse entry even if you’re a licensed waste carrier with a permit. If you’re not a registered waste carrier and take commercial waste to a HWRC, you could face prosecution and a fine.

Section 34 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 sets out the duty of care businesses have for disposing of commercial waste. This includes ensuring your waste is properly contained, transported by licensed waste carriers, transferred to someone legally allowed to accept it, and accompanied by the proper descriptions in the waste transfer note.

Duty of care breaches and failure to comply is an offence and may lead to a penalty. The size of the potential fine depends on the nature of the offence and where it’s dealt with. For example, failure to produce a waste carrier’s licence when moving your commercial waste can lead to a fixed penalty notice of £300 and a fine of up to £5,000 if you’re not registered.

Any offences due to unauthorised or harmful deposit, treatment, or disposal of waste – and other waste offences that end up in the Crown Court – could result in an unlimited fine and jail time. Potential fines for transporting and tipping commercial waste illegally include:

• Fixed penalty notice – £300
• Penalty in the Magistrates Court – up to £5,000
• Fine in the Crown Court – unlimited fine

Save money, time, and effort by using Divert for your commercial waste collection. We provide free bins for your waste with no delivery or hire charges – you only cover the collection costs. This includes bins to separate food waste, general waste, glass, paper, cardboard, plastic, garden waste, and dry mixed recycling.

A wide range of bins, bags, and containers in various sizes are available to suit your needs. Schedule daily, weekly, or fortnightly collections to arrange cost-effective commercial waste collection. Licensed waste carriers will remove your bins and divert all your business waste away from landfill, as our name suggests!

Food waste in the UK is a constant concern as the country produces more than 9.5 million tonnes of it every year. The food and drink waste hierarchy advises businesses to prevent excess food and redistribute surplus food first before disposing of it. Understanding what happens to food waste highlights the importance of reducing it.

Businesses should segregate waste food from other materials with separate bins and collections to ensure it’s disposed of responsibly and diverted away from landfill. This is even more important with new food waste legislation making food waste separation a legal requirement for all businesses in England by April 2027.

Food is an organic material that contains useful energy even when it becomes inedible. Recycling waste food is vital, so it doesn’t end up in landfill to protect the environment. Find out what happens to food waste in the UK after it leaves your business or home.

Recycled food waste is converted into energy, fertiliser, or fuel through composting, anaerobic digestion, and energy from waste processes. What happens to it depends on the specific facility where it’s sent after collection from your business or home and the recycling process it goes through.

Recycled food waste becomes:

• Energy – biogas captured from anaerobic digestion is used to produce renewable energy, such as electricity. Any food waste recycled at energy from waste plants is incinerated to create energy as well. From either source, this is used locally or sent to the national grid.
• Fertiliser – composted food waste turns into a natural fertiliser used by farmers and agricultural professionals to grow new crops, rejuvenate topsoil, and for other green initiatives. Leftover pulp from anaerobic digestion also forms a nutrient-rich digestate that’s used as a fertiliser.
• Biofuel – certain types of food waste can be recycled and converted into biodiesel, which is used to fuel vehicles and machinery. Cooking oils and animal fats can be cleaned, processed, and combined with refined petroleum products to form a fuel used by vehicles that run on traditional diesel.

What happens to food waste collected by councils in the UK depends on where you live, the nearby food waste processing plants, and the policies of your local authority. Many UK councils will take the food waste they collect to anaerobic digestion plants, in-vessel composting facilities (IVC), or energy from waste plants.

Some councils may take food waste collected from households to incineration facilities, but most will avoid adding waste food to landfill. Check with your local council to see where they take food waste and how it’s processed.

The start of a new year is the ideal time to look back but also forward. This applies to many aspects of running a business, including what happens to your waste. Review your recycling resolutions from last year to see what progress you made and any changes that worked while setting fresh targets for 2025.

It’s set to be a big year for the world of waste management across the UK as new Simpler Recycling regulations are rolled out in spring. That’s why it’s more important than ever that your business has efficient, affordable, and reliable commercial waste processes in place whether you run a country pub, city centre office, or village shop.

Setting goals and sticking to them can help your company reduce its waste, save money on waste management, and keep you up to date with the latest developments. Make and keep these five waste management resolutions for your business in 2025 for safe, sustainable, and cost-effective ways of working.

Used packaging materials is one of the biggest waste streams for businesses of all sizes and industries. In the UK we throw away 11 billion bits of packaging waste every year. These are mostly plastic, paper, cardboard, and glass packaging items such as bags, wrap, food and drink containers.

Packaging waste is produced at many points. It could be creating products in a factory and packaging them up to send to customers, receiving deliveries in an office and getting rid of the cardboard boxes, or throwing out empty glass and plastic drink bottles in a restaurant or café. Reducing packaging waste where possible should be a priority.

Switch suppliers to work with businesses that use no packaging, minimal amounts, or sustainable and recyclable options. Think about how your company packages items and where waste is created, then take steps to minimise it. Find ways to reuse or repurpose packaging – like using boxes for storage or repackaging other items.

A big cause of avoidable waste in many organisations is having excess stock, supplies, and items. It could be shops with extra products they need to sell to make space for new lines or restaurants with food about to go off that needs using. Often these items are thrown away as it’s the easiest option.

Stay on top of your inventory in 2025 to avoid creating such waste. This could involve running regular stock checks, training staff about product rotation so perishable items don’t go off, and implementing new technology and processes. Efficient inventory management should reduce waste and save your business money.

Delegating the role of stock checks to either one individual or someone in specific departments or teams assigns responsibility to the task. With an element of accountability and a clear idea of who should take charge of ensuring inventory management runs smoothly, it can minimise waste in this area.

Christmas is a busy time of year for most businesses. Shops, restaurants, and pubs experience an influx of customers as offices simultaneously throw Christmas parties and celebrations while also wrapping up for the year. With so much going on it’s easy to overlook business basics, such as managing waste.

In the UK, we produce around 30% more waste over the Christmas holidays compared to other times of the year. This includes homes and businesses throwing out extra food, decorations, and other items. The bank holidays and many people having time off work can also affect waste collection schedules.

Planning for the impact of Christmas on your commercial waste helps prevent overflowing bins, paying for collections you don’t need, or entering the new year with a waste problem for your organisation. Use the following actions to ensure waste management runs smoothly for your business over the festive period.

Many councils change bin collection days for households in their areas across the Christmas bank holidays. And private waste collection firms also adapt their schedules over the festive period. Your waste collection company should inform you of any changes but if not you should check so you can prepare.

In most cases, it may only be that your usual waste collections are moved forward or pushed back a couple of days. The types and volumes of waste materials your organisation produces may affect any changes. For example, hospitals that continue to produce clinical and hazardous waste might not experience a change in collections.

Make sure you know any new collection dates and times over Christmas to avoid missing a collection. Should your business close then it’s vital you either inform your waste collectors or move bins to the pickup point before you shut. Otherwise, it could lead to a pointless and costly trip, or your bins not being emptied if there’s no access.

Storing bins as a business can be a challenge. You need somewhere with space that’s far enough away, so any bad smells don’t reach your customers. Ideally, it also needs to be undercover to protect the bins from rain, potential theft, and pests. Making an outside bin store is an effective solution for most businesses.

Bin stores come in various shapes and sizes. The easiest way to get one that’s effective for your business is to build your own, whether you’ve just got a couple of small wheelie bins or use a few four-wheel bins. It helps keep your business tidy and your rubbish safe.

There are various options to build a bin store that works for your company. Learn how to make a bin store that protects your commercial waste before it’s collected and keeps your premises looking smart.

Building a commercial bin store for your business helps protect your waste from the elements. If rain gets into bins it can contaminate the rubbish and reduce its recyclability. Water weakens the fibres of paper and cardboard recycling, so it may no longer be of good enough quality to be recycled.

Placing bins under a roof in a solid structure such as a commercial bin store also prevents them from blowing over in high winds and rubbish escaping into the environment. And looking after bins in summer presents additional challenges as exposure to warm weather can speed up the decomposition process for organic waste that quickly emits a foul smell.

Commercial bin stores with locks on also reduce the risk of damage and theft of your bins. It can make your outside area look tidier and keep bins out of sight of customers and guests. Having a bin store should also reduce the risk of attracting pests such as rats.

There are many ways to build a bin store, which can vary depending on the materials you use, features you want, and where it’s going to be at your business or home. To help make the process of building a bin store easier we’ve pulled together the main steps that should turn your plans into reality.

Follow these stages to build a bin store for your business or home:

• Draw up bin store plans – sketch the shape, structure, and dimensions of your bin store and the materials required. Make sure the design slots into the desired space with enough room for the bins and is achievable to build.
• Collect tools and materials – gather the wood, timber, screws, saw, workbench, and other equipment.
• Cut the timber – if you’re making a bin store from wood then cut the pieces of timber to the dimensions outlined in your plan.

Does your business produce ANY food waste every week? Then you’ll soon have to comply with the new food waste legislation set to be introduced in 2025 across England. You’ll need dedicated food waste bins to separate it from other materials and manage your food waste legally.

If you run a company in Scotland or Wales then you should already comply with their existing food waste regulations. This new food waste legislation is being introduced across England to prevent large amounts of waste food from going to landfills or incineration facilities.

At Divert, we already dispose of all commercial waste we collect away from landfill (including waste food). Understand what the new food waste legislation in the UK means for your business and how to plan for the changes effectively – or speak to us for a free quote for food waste collections from your business by calling 0333 444 0118 or contacting us online.

The new food waste legislation comes into force on 31 March 2025 across England. By this date, any business that generates more than 5kg of waste food per week must have arranged separate commercial food waste collections.

For micro businesses – those with fewer than 10 employees – they don’t need to comply with the new regulations until 31 March 2027. This means micro businesses can continue to throw away food scraps with general waste until then. However, it’s advisable to separate waste food as soon as possible to help the environment and prepare for the legislation changes.

Scotland introduced regulations that made mandatory food waste separation a legal requirement for businesses in 2014, while Wales announced similar with their own simpler recycling measures in April 2024. These new regulation changes aim to align England’s food waste management with its neighbours.

The new food waste regulation applies to all types of waste food. This includes plate waste from customers in restaurants and cafes, food scraps thrown away from lunches in offices, and that produced during preparation processes – such as fruit and vegetable peelings, egg shells, and coffee grounds.

It will affect any company that creates more than 5kg of waste food a week, especially impacting restaurants, cafes, bars, hotels, and shops. To prepare for these food waste regulation changes, your business must have separate food waste bins and collections in place before the end of March 2025.

The UK government aims to achieve net zero by 2050 but to reach this target it needs businesses, industries, and individuals to all cut carbon emissions. Achieving net zero is about more than hitting government goals though. It should have a positive environmental impact and can save many companies money too.

You’ve probably heard the term net zero used a lot. Here we make clear what it means and why it’s important for businesses of any size, industry, and location to have their own net zero plans. It’s a great way to uphold your environmental responsibilities and have a clear plan of action to go greener.

Understand more about what is meant by net zero, why it’s important for businesses, and how to achieve it with the following tips.

The main reason why achieving net zero is important is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and tackle climate change. Many governments are introducing carbon emission regulations and targets that apply to businesses, such as the UK’s 2050 net zero goal. Running a net zero business helps you stay on track with any new regulations.

Businesses have a responsibility to help protect the environment but there are also benefits of net zero to help companies grow. Adopting a net zero plan can improve your organisation’s green reputation. Many customers are more eco-conscious and look to work with companies with strong environmental practices. This can boost investor and stakeholder confidence too.

Further benefits of net zero for companies are that it can save your business money. Many actions to achieve net zero involve reducing waste and improving energy efficiency for daily operations. These both lead to reduced costs for waste management and energy consumption, which has a financial and environmental benefit for your business.

Improving your commercial waste management should be a key part of your net zero plan and at Divert we can help. As our name suggests, we divert all waste away from landfill. This saves you money and reduces the greenhouse gases and carbon emissions produced from your waste to help achieve net zero.

Regular recycling collections are available for glass, paper, cardboard, plastic, and more. We provide free bins for your waste in a wide range of sizes with daily, weekly, and fortnightly removals to suit your schedule. There are no delivery or rental charges – you only pay for collection.

The 5 Rs of waste management are steps to help businesses reduce and handle all rubbish they produce sustainably. It breaks down the waste lifecycle into five separate stages, so companies can determine when and where they can act to reduce waste and divert it away from landfill.

Each stage aims to reduce waste at the source and find ways to minimise the environmental impact of its final disposal. The 5 Rs of waste management are a waste hierarchy or pyramid that should be followed in order to form a more environmentally friendly and sustainable workplace.

Improve your commercial waste management and act sustainably by following the 5 Rs, whatever industry and business size you run anywhere in Yorkshire or the UK.

These are the five Rs of waste management:

The next step is to reduce the waste your business produces at the source. Methods of waste reduction vary depending on the type of business and industry. A common example is for offices, shops, and other companies to go paperless by switching to online document storage systems.

Restaurants can work to reduce food waste by reviewing portion sizes and finding ways to make soups and stock from unused meat and vegetable parts. Keeping a tight control over inventory helps cut back on waste for pubs, bars, and shops by minimising the chance of overordering.

Reducing commercial waste means less energy and resources are required to process it, which cuts back on pollution produced when moving and disposing of waste. It also saves your organisation money, as you’ll pay less landfill tax for disposal and need fewer waste collections or can use smaller bins to manage it.

Not all waste items can be reused for their original intention but repurposing them to prolong their life is another great way to minimise waste. This is often referred to as upcycling and may require a little creativity. All sorts of waste items can be repurposed for various uses.

Old clothing like t-shirts makes great towels or cleaning cloths, empty wine bottles can be converted into candle holders or lighting ornaments, and wooden pallets make decent outdoor furniture. Tin cans could be used to as planters while any type of box is suitable as a storage solution.

Repairing broken items to their original state or for a new purpose is also good. It prevents the items from becoming waste and saves money as you won’t need to buy a replacement. Think of ways to repurpose any waste items your organisation produces to manage waste better.