How to prepare for recycling legislation
With new 'Simpler Recycling' legislation in England just around the corner (31st March 2025), plus a whole host of benefits of better recycling your business could be missing out on, now is the time to implement an efficient recycling system.
But with multiple areas collecting different types of waste, new streams to implement, and internal teams to engage and educate, it can prove a challenge to know where to start.
Start by understanding your venue’s waste flow and the stakeholder responsibility at each stage. It’s likely that you’ll have a waste contractor in place already, however they’ll only handle your waste once they’ve collected it from your venue.
The waste management flow is a five-step process:
Staff or customer deposits waste
Staff deposit waste in the correct bin
Waste from front and back of house is moved to collection points
Collected waste is transported by the contractor to a treatment facility
Received waste is processed and either recycled or dumped
A step-by-step guide to transforming your recycling
Take stock of your venue’s current waste management system, identify any areas where recyclable waste is being generated but not collected separately, and implement simple changes in the right places.
From your front-of-house areas collecting customer waste to your kitchens, bars, offices and everywhere else behind the scenes, you’ll have different areas to manage when considering your recycling systems. Use our waste walk checklist to identify which waste streams are being generated in each area and in what quantities.
The new legislation requires dry recyclable materials, such as glass bottles, drinks cans, food containers, paper and cardboard, food waste and eventually (from March 2027) plastic film to be separated from general waste. In order to be compliant, businesses must ensure that they are separating these waste streams.
Once you know which streams you’re dealing with, it’s time to get the right bins for the job. From modular recycling stations to collect multiple streams, to large containers for areas of high volume and narrow footprint bins to fit around your bar area, find out more about which bins go where.
Cross-contamination is a costly but all too common issue when it comes to recycling. Facilitate correct separation at source by ensuring that your bins are not only visible but include clear signage, colour-coding and descriptive icons so your customers and employees know at a glance which waste they need to deposit where.
Now you’ve upgraded your bins, it’s time to engage your teams. Ensure buy-in from leadership teams and employees by asking staff for their input. Hold briefing sessions on new recycling systems, create ‘recycling champions’, set group goals and motivate teams by showing them the difference they’re making.
From your lobby to your kitchens, conference rooms, offices and gyms, get started with our easy-to-follow guide to conducting a ‘waste walk’ at your venue. Assess the needs of each area and identify changes you need to make to ensure your business is compliant with the new legislation.
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