The new Simpler Recycling legislation will change how businesses are required to separate and dispose of their waste. If you own a business, you'll now need to separate food waste, glass, plastics, metals, paper and cardboard from general waste for recycling. This applies regardless of the amount of waste your organisation produces.
This legislation will apply 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
We'll be offering waste collection services across the following categories:
- Food waste
- Dry mixed recycling (metal, glass, plastic)
- Paper and card
- General waste
Your business will need to have four separate bins; one for each category.
Food waste
All workplaces that meet the conditions above and that produce food waste will need to arrange for it to be collected separately. This applies regardless of volume and applies to all workplaces, not just those that serve food or have catering facilities.
Workplaces can decide on the frequency of collections to align with the volume of waste they produce, but for food waste, a weekly collection is needed as a minimum.
Organisations that are affected by the new legislation
Health and social care
- Hospitals
- GP surgeries
- Dentists
- Opticians
- Ambulance and other medical transport services
- Pharmacies
- Physiotherapists
- Mental health services
- Residential
- Nursing and respite care home providers
Hospitality
- Hotels
- Restaurants
- Cafes
- Coffee shops
- Quick service restaurants
- Hostels
- Motels
- Serviced apartments
- Bed and breakfasts
- Self-catering accommodation
- Catering businesses
- Bars
- Public and private sector canteens
- School meal kitchens
Retail and wholesale
- Trade and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles
- Online retailers and wholesalers
- Retailers and wholesalers with a fixed operating base
- Charity shops selling donated goods originating from domestic premises
Transport and storage
- Bus terminals
- Train stations
- Motorway service stations
- Ports and airports
- Warehousing providers
- Logistics and support activity providers
- Postal and courier services
Food and drink manufacturing
- Brewers
- Wine producers
- Courier services
Education
- Universities
- Further or higher education colleges and providers
- Private and public schools
- Nurseries
Office and service sector
- Public and office administration
- Publishers
- Security providers
- Building and landscape service providers
- TV
- Sound and film production companies
- Programmers and broadcasters
- Telecoms providers
- Financial services providers
- Legal and accountancy services
- Gambling and betting activities
- Advertising and market research organisations
- Travel agencies
- Libraries
- Archives and museums
- Arts and entertainment providers
- Sports
- Amusement and recreation providers
- Computer programming providers and repairers
- Consultants
- Architectural and engineering services
- Veterinary providers
- Employment providers and member organisations
Other premises
- Places of worship
- Penal institutions
- Residential hostels which provide accommodation only to persons with no other permanent address or who are unable to live at their permanent residence
- Premises used wholly or mainly for public meetings
If your business doesn't comply
The Environmental Agency may take legal action if your business doesn't store and dispose of waste safely, as you have a duty of care to all stakeholders.
The Environment Agency can serve a compliance notice to your business. A compliance notice must specify the failures to comply with sections 45AZA or 45AZB, specify the steps to be taken to prevent the failure from continuing or recurring and specify the 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.
Next steps
We're currently reviewing and redesigning our services to support businesses within Barnsley to comply with this legislation. The legislation requires significant changes for us all and there will be a transition period while we adapt and settle in to this new normal. We're currently deciding on the new pricing structures of our waste collection services. We'll let existing customers know of any updates in due course.
More information
The Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has sector-specific guidance for businesses to help them with this transition.