Intended to reduce confusion over recycling and ensure a high-quality stream of used goods to recycling plants, the new rules require businesses to arrange for the separate collection of dry recyclables, food waste, and residual – non-recyclable – waste.
Under the ‘Simpler Recycling” scheme, dry recyclables, including plastic, metal, glass, and paper and card will need to be sorted, with paper and card held separately unless the waste collector collects them together.
Businesses will be given freedom to decide the size of their bins and frequency of collection, based on the volume of waste they produce.
Announcing the changes, the government said the new rules were a “sensible, pragmatic approach” to materials collections, and would provide more high-quality recycled materials to the UK market and support the transition to a more circular economy.
Mary Creagh, circular economy minister, said: “We are committed to ending the throwaway society, boosting recycling rates which have stalled for too long, and driving growth through the government’s Plan for Change.”
Recycling rates in England have flatlined at around 45% since 2015.
Creagh added: “Simplifying the rules for workplaces will make recycling easier, maximising environmental benefits, delivering cost savings and stimulating growth. We’ll continue to work hand-in-hand with businesses to deliver our reforms to drive up recycling rates and ensure there’s more recycled content in the products we buy.”
By 31 March 2026, the new rules will be extended to all households in England. Workplaces with fewer than 10 employees have until 31 March 2027 to arrange recycling of the core recyclable waste streams.
The Environment Agency has taken on responsibility as the Simpler Recycling scheme administrator. Companies, their landlords or facilities managers that do not comply with the new rules are at risk of receiving a compliance notice from the Environment Agency, which, if ignored, can lead to enforcement action.
Winfried Muehling, marketing and communications director at board-based packaging advocacy association Pro Carton, said the new rules were a “significant step forward” to the UK’s sustainability and recycling commitments.
“Standardising collection and separating paper and card is of utmost importance to avoid cross-contamination from food and other liquids commonly found in co-mingled collection streams. This will enhance the quality of the recycling material and secure the best quality outcome after recycling,” he said.
Caspar Harwood-King, managing director of Newhaven fine art printer Harwood King Printmakers, told Printweek he was glad to see the government give businesses – his own included – a “kick up the arse” to take more accountability over recycling.
“It’s only a good thing to get people to recycle properly,” he said.
“Making it a rule we have to comply with gives us a sufficient kick up the arse to do it properly.”
He added that while Harwood King drops off its off-cuts to local schools that ask for it, it may now consider more carefully how it can get more use out of the rest of its waste.
“The hurdle that we’ve always found difficult is getting the correct collection. We have a waste depot right around the corner, but we find it really difficult to get them to actually provide the proper bins, and have the right collections – there’s improvement that needs to be done there,” he said.
“And with hazardous waste, it’s quite difficult to find people that will take it and dispose of it responsibly – that’s the biggest thing we struggle with, reliability and consistency.”
Waste collectors have a legal duty to ensure dry recyclables and food waste are collected separately from residual waste, and can be issued with a compliance notice if it does not comply. Waste separated for recycling can not be disposed of for incineration or landfill.
Larger print businesses typically have comprehensive waste management processes already in place.
