Business waste responsibilities

What business and commercial waste is

Business waste is any waste that comes from a business or commercial activity. This could be a shop, office, holiday home or childcare service.

If you use part of your home to run your business, then any waste from that part is business waste.

Who business waste laws apply to

Anyone that makes, stores, transports, processes, or disposes of waste has a duty of care. This applies to all businesses.

It's the business owner’s duty to make sure that their waste is being managed responsibly. This applies even if you outsource your waste management. You should only ever use legitimate, reliable, and reputable waste management companies.

Why you can't use household bins for business waste

Household bins are for household waste only. This doesn't include any waste generated as part of a business. You can't dispose of your business waste using household waste and recycling bins, or take it for disposal at a household waste recycling centre.

Business rates don't include charges for waste disposal. All businesses that produce waste must therefore have a commercial waste agreement and be able to produce this on request. 

Any waste or recycling from your business should be collected and disposed of by a licensed waste carrier. This still applies if your business is run from your home. You can also take your waste to a site licensed to handle business waste and pay disposal charges.

Types of waste you need to recycle

Simpler recycling rules for workplaces came into effect on 31 March 2025. This legislation requires businesses to separate food waste, glass, plastics, metals, paper and cardboard from general waste for recycling. It applies regardless of the amount of waste your organisation produces.

The legislation applies to:

• businesses and non-domestic premises with 10 or more full-time employees from 31 March 2025
• businesses with fewer than 10 full-time employees from 31 March 2027

From 1 July 2025 we'll be offering waste collection services for:

• food waste
• paper and card
• dry mixed recycling (metal, glass, plastic)
• general waste

Businesses will need to have four separate bins; one for each category. For details about what items can be recycled visit our A-Z of waste.

Visit our business waste collections page for more details about which organisations are affected by the simpler recycling legislation, our service offering, and enforcement. The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has sector-specific guidance for businesses to help them with this transition.

Storing your business waste

You're responsible for safely and securely storing your business's waste. It should be kept in a safe place, in clearly labelled, suitable, covered containers.

Store different wastes separately so that they don’t contaminate each other. They can then be reused or recycled more easily. If your business produces hazardous waste, there are extra responsibilities for the storage of this.

Carrying business waste

If you want to dispose of your own waste regularly you must register as a waste carrier. You should also check whether any company you use to transport or dispose of your waste is a registered waste carrier. You can check this by visiting the Environment Agency register.

You can ask to see, and keep proof of, a waste carrier registration certificate. You can also ask for a receipt, ask where your waste is being taken, and take note of the name and vehicle registration of the collection.

Waste transfer notes

Every time waste is removed from your business, a waste transfer note must be filled out or you should be issued with a document that contains the same details. An example of this could be an invoice. If you have an ongoing waste collection contract where the details remain the same, this may be issued annually.

Waste transfer notes must be kept for two years for most waste, and three years for hazardous waste. The waste transfer note shows the certain details. This includes description of the waste, how it's contained, how much there is, your details, the collector’s details and the location of the collection.

How we can help with your business waste

We offer a full waste and recycling collection for any size of business. We can offer recycling collections of paper and cardboard and glass bottles and jar, tins, cans and foil trays and plastic bottles, pots, tubs and trays. We also offer collections of general waste.

From 1 July 2025 we'll be extending our existing offer by adding in separate dry mixed recycling and food waste collections.

We can take the hassle out of setting up collections as we'll work with you to provide you with the right number and size of bins. We'll take care of all of the paperwork including waste transfer notes at competitive rates and with fixed-price contracts.

If you want to speak to a member of our business waste team to see how we can help you or set up collections, please contact us on commercialwaste@barnsley.gov.uk. You can also find out more on our business waste collections webpage.

Enforcement of waste laws

We work with district enforcement officers to make sure that businesses are disposing of their waste correctly. District enforcement officers will be offering advice and guidance to those who need it. This work helps us to stop fly-tipping, the illegal transfer of waste, and the overall environmental impact of business waste. For more details email safer@barnsley.gov.uk.

The Environment Agency (EA) are taking a pragmatic approach to enforcement of simpler recycling legislation, as they recognise that a transition period is required for both businesses and waste collectors. As long as businesses can evidence they have a plan in place to implement the changes, enforcement action won't be taken against them. Find out how to request a new business waste collection.

After the transition period, the Environmental Agency may take legal action if your business doesn't store and dispose of waste safely in line with your duty of care. In such instances, the Environment Agency can serve a compliance notice to your business. This must specify the:

• failures to comply with sections 45AZA or 45AZB
• steps to be taken to prevent the failure from continuing or recurring
• period within which those steps must be taken

The timeframe for compliance will depend on what went wrong and the actions needed to fix it. Failure to comply with a compliance notice is an offence and the Environment Agency will consider what action to take in accordance with their enforcement and sanctions policy.