Where to store your Retail or Wholesale waste and recycling between collections

Most workplaces have dedicated external areas or compounds where they store their waste containers in between collections. These help to keep your premises tidy, as well as ensuring bins are easily accessible for staff and the waste who empties them. Here’s how to store waste and recycling while it’s awaiting collection.

Keep bins out of the way – store bins and other containers away from public highways and pavements between collections
Make a storage area – ideally, store them in an external yard, internal storage area or purpose-built bin room big enough for several containers (this could be shared with neighbouring workplaces) in a way that doesn’t make them a fire hazard
Provide safe and kerb-free access – position your storage area in a place that gives safe and easy access for both staff and waste collectors, including staff who are less mobile
Ensure step-free access – make sure bins can be wheeled safely without going up and down steps:
- Bins over 250 litres shouldn’t need to be manoeuvred over more than three steps
- The gradient between the storage and collection points should not exceed 1:12 or 8%
- Two-wheeled containers shouldn’t need to be moved more than 15m between collection point and vehicle, and four-wheeled containers no more than 10m Making Space for Waste: ADEPT
Collection Points - put containers for waste and recyclables for collection in places that minimise the need for difficult collection vehicle manoeuvres (such as reversing). As far as possible, they should also be separated from public areas. Liaise with your waste collector to identify collection hazards and reduce or eliminate these risks
Monitor and maintain – keep bins and storage areas clean and tidy to reduce the risks of attracting vermin, watching out for leaks and other damage

Waste and recycling storage: how much space do I need?

The amount of storage space you need will depend on the types and quantities of recycling your organisation generates (as we saw in Step 1, there are six primary listed in the legislation) and on how often your waste and recycling is collected. The Waste Audit you completed in Step 2 and the Business Waste Calculator in Step 3 will help with this, and you can also talk to your current waste service provider.

Here are a few things to remember when planning how much space you need:

Make optimum use of the space – simple measures such as squashing plastic bottles, breaking down cardboard boxes, or (even better) reusing packaging will all help reduce the amount of space you need, and may allow you to reduce the size and/or number of containers you need and/or the frequency of their collection

Good to know
Even small volumes of food waste can be very heavy. When they’re full, larger bins can pose a problem for both operatives and kitchen staff. To keep bins safe and manoeuvrable, our Commercial Food Waste Collections Guide advises using containers of 140 litres or less. For hygiene reasons, you may also want to have food waste collected more often than your general waste or dry recycling.

Preserving the quality of your recycling, such as keeping paper dry, is important to maximise its chances of being recycled into new products, so ensure you have enough secure storage space for this
Headroom – make sure there’s enough working headroom in your storage area – the minimum height should be two metres
Turning circle – allow enough room for a clear turning circle of at least 1.5m diameter so that you can move bins around safely. You’ll need a much bigger turn circle if you have large, four-wheeled bin.
Space around the bins – aim for at least 150mm of space around each bin so you can move them unrestricted. Making Space for Waste: Designing Waste management in New Developments – ADEPT

If you’re reading this and wondering how you’re going to find enough space, don’t worry! Here’s how you can save on space while still keeping your recycling separate:

Smaller bins – how full are your existing containers when they’re collected? You may be able to manage with a smaller general waste bin if you separate out more of the bulky recycling – this could save you money too!
Use sackable Multi-compartment bins – to keep your recyclables separate from each other.
Use sacks instead – these may be an option for some types of recycling and may give you more flexibility on storage.
Compacting waste – crushing certain types of recycling may help save space, but check with your waste service provider first to make sure they can accept compacted recycling.
More frequent collections – could bulkier recycling be collected more often so that you can manage with fewer or smaller bins?

You can read more about waste management in buildings in the Code of Practice – BS 5906:2005 Table 1.